C-NRLF 


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University  o!  the  State  ol  New  York  Bulletin 

Entered  as  second-class  matter  August  a,  1913,  at  the  Post  Office  at  Albany,  N.  Y., 
under  the  act  of  August  34,  19" 

Published  fortnightly 


No.  680 


ALBANY,  N.  Y. 


FEBRUARY  i,  1919 


New  York  State  Library 


History  Bulletin  12 
PETER  SAILLY 


A  PIONEER  OF  THE  CHAMPLAIN  VALLFV 

WITH 
EXTRACTS  FROM  HIS  DIARY  AND  LETTERS 

BY 
GEORGE  S.  BIXBY 


PAGE 

Early  life  in  France 13 

Traveler  and  immigrant 15 

In  public  life 25 

In  Government  service 32 

War  with  Great  Britain 36 

Raids  and  smugglers  1813-14 4* 


PAGE 

Battle  of  Plattsburg 43 

The  zealous   and    discriminating 

official 47 

Character  and  characteristics 51 

Appendixes  1-21 55 

Index 93 


ALBANY 

*        THE   UNIVERSITY   OP  THE   STATE   OP   NEW   YORK 

1919 

Mr  19-2000 


University  ol  the  State  ol  Hew  York  Bulletin 

atter  August  2,  1913,  at  the  Post 
mder  the  act  of  August  24,  1912 

Published  fortnightly 


Entered  as  second-class  matter  August  2,  1913,  at  the  Post  Office  at  Albany,  N.  Y., 
under  the  act  of  August  24,  1912 


No.  680  ALBANY,  N.  Y.  FEBRUARY  i,  1919 

New  York  State  Library 

History  Bulletin  12 

PETER  SAILLY 

(1754-1826) 

A    PIONEER    OF    THE    CHAMPLAIN    VALLEY 

WITH 

EXTRACTS  FROM  HIS  DIARY  AND  LETTERS 


BY 


GEORGE  S.  BIXBY 

i\ 


ALBANY 

THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    NEW    YORK 
IQIQ 


New  York  State  Library 

Albany,  February  24,  ip/p 
Hon.   Thomas  E.  Flnegan 

Acting  President  of  the  University 
DEAR  SIR: 

In  1785  Peter  Sailly  with  his  family  came  from  France  and 
settled  at  Plattsburg  on  Lake  Champlain.  There  he  lived  for  forty 
years,  during  which  time  he  was  county  judge,  member  of  the 
Assembly,  member  of  Congress,  army  contractor,  military  store 
keeper,  and  for  seventeen  years,  from  1809  until  his  death  in 
1826,  collector  of  the  Port  of  Plattsburg.  He  had  an  important 
part  in  the  events  of  the  War  of  1812.  He  was  a  man  of  excep 
tional  force,  of  impressive  personal  appearance  and  manner,  of 
unusual  courage,  uncompromising  integrity,  and  a  power  in  north 
ern  New  York  affairs  for  forty  years. 

A  year  or  more  ago  his  grandchildren,  Sidney  Smith  Palmer 
and  Katherine  Palmer,  presented  to  the  State  Library  a  manu 
script  memorial  of  Sailly  with  important  supporting  letters  and 
documents,  the  Library  in  consideration  of  this  deposit  to  prepare 
a  suitable  sketch  of  his  life.  Such  a  sketch  had  never  been  done, 
and  any  printed  material  relating  to  him  or  his  work  is  of  the 
utmost  meagerness. 

This  condition  was  agreed  to  by  the  Regents  Library  committee 
and  the  following  account  of  Sailly's  life  in  New  York  State  has 
been  prepared,  recommended  to  and  approved  by  the  Board  of 
Regents.  It  is  now  respectfully  submitted  for  publication. 

This  little  monograph  has  profited  greatly  by  the  interest,  sug 
gestions  and  painstaking  editorial  work  and  proof-reading  of  Mr 
\Yihner  L.  Hall,  sublibrarian  in  history. 

Very  truly  yours 

J.  I.  WYER  JR 

Director 


THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    NEW    YORK 
OFFICE    OF    TH2    PRESIDENT 


/// -proved  -for  publication  this  2jth  day  of  February  ip/p 


Acting  President  of  the  University 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introduction II 

I     Early  Life  in  France 13 

II     Traveler  and  Immigrant 15 

III  In  Public  Life 25 

IV  In  Government  Service 32 

V     War  with  Great  Britain 36 

VI     Raids  and  Smugglers,  1813-14 41 

VII     The  Battle  of  Plattsburg 43 

VIII     The  Zealous  and  Discriminating  Official 47 

IX     Character  and  Characteristics 5  * 

Appendixes 

I     Passport 57 

II     Diary 58 

Extracts  or  copies  of  letters  as  follows: 

III  Letter  of  Introduction  to  Zephan:ah  Platt 7 1 

IV  Letter  from  Madame  Sailly  to  her  Mother-in-Law,  dated  December 

i,  1785 72 

V     Letter  from  Peter  Sailly  to  Judge  William  Bailey   dated  May  26, 

1806 73 

VI     Letter  written  by  Peter  Sailly  on  Politics  (1806) 74 

VII     Letter  from  Peter  Sailly  to  Judge  William  Bailey  (without  date) .  75 
VIII     Letter  written  by  Peter  Sailly  in    the    Tompkins    campaign  of 

1807,  dated  April  4,  1807 76 

IX     Letter  from  Peter  Sailly  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  dated 

July  27,  1812 77 

X     Letter  from  Peter  Sailly  to  the  Quartermaster  General,   dated 

June  n,  1813 78 

XI     Letter  from  Peter  Sailly  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  dated 

August  4,  1813 80 

XII     Letter  from  Peter  Sailly  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  dated 

December  21,  1813 81 

XIII  Letter  from  Major  Ritter  to  Henry  Delord,  dated  March  17,  1814.  82 

XIV  Letter  from  Peter  Sailly  to  Superintenden L.   General  of  Public 

Supplies,  dated  August  4,  1814 83 

XV     Letter    from    Peter    Sailly    to    Deputy    Quartermaster    General 

(undated) 84 

XVI     Letter  from  Peter  Sailly  to  Quartermaster  General  (undated) ....  85 
XVII     Letter  from  Peter  Sailly  to  General  Macomb,  dated  October  20, 

1814 86 

XVIII     Letter  from  Peter  Sailly  to  General  Macomb,  dated  October  25, 

1814 87 

XIX     Letter  from  John  Jacob  Astor  to  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  dated 

May  31,  1819,  and  note  of  inclosure  to  Peter  Sailly 88 

XX     Letter  from  Chancellor  Walworth  to  Peter  Sailly  Palmer,  dated 

January  12,  1866 90 

XXI     In  cription  on  gravestone  of  Peter  Sailly 92 


INTRODUCTION 

The  purpose  of  these  pages  is  to  sketch  the  life  of  an  interesting 
Frenchman,  Peter  Sailly,  who  for  four  decades  was  a  striking 
and  influential  figure  in  the  pioneer  life  of  northern  New  York. 
The  appending  of  his  short  diary  makes  available  for  reference  a 
record  of  early  journeyings  in  the  Champlain  and  Mohawk  valleys. 
A  few  letters,  his  own  and  by  other  persons  important  in  the  life 
of  the  State  a  hundred  years  and  more  ago,  are  also  added.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  history  of  a  part  of  New  York  State  which  is  not 
rich  in  authentic  historical  publications  relating  to  the  formative 
years,  1780-1825,  may  thus  be  somewhat  illuminated  and  that 
incidentally  a  recognition,  delayed  but  abundantly  deserved,  may 
be  recorded  of  the  substantial  debt  which  New  York  and  the  new 
nation  owe  to  a  considerable  number  of  French  immigrants  of 
condition  and  character  who  were  attracted  to  the  United  States 
between  1/80  and  1800,  first  by  prospect  of  an  alluring  political 
and  commercial  status  to  follow  their  newly  gained  independence 
and  later  as  a  refuge  from  clanger  and  distress  at  home. 

The  main  source  of  information  regarding  the  life  of  Peter 
Sailly  in  America  is  found  in  notes  made  by  his  grandson,  the 
late  Judge  Peter  Sailly  Palmer,  of  Plattsburg,  from  original  docu 
ments,  most  of  them  papers  left  by  Sailly.  Judge  Palmer  was  an 
able  lawyer  and  a  writer  and  student  of  local  history.  The  greater 
portion  of  the  matter  he  gathered  concerning  his  grandfather  was 
turned  into  a  series  of  articles  which  were  printed  during  his  life 
time  in  the  Plattsburg  Republican,  in  the  weekly  numbers  from 
February  24  to  April  20,  1872.  Facts  concerning  the  family  abroad 
and  Sailly's  early  life  in  France  were  gathered  about  1882,  mainly 
through  personal  visits  to  Europe  of  John  Boynton  Palmer,  another 
grandson,  and  were  carefully  preserved  by  Judge  Palmer.  Most 
of  the  foreign  information  was  secured  through  the  assistance  of 
M.  Charles  de  Finance,  of  Lyons,  France,  and  M.  Ernest  de  Massy, 
of  Langres,  both  descendants  of  sisters  of  Peter  Sailly. 

The  diary  written  in  French  and  translated  by  Judge  Palmer, 
who  was  a  good  French  scholar,  and  most  of  the  original  docu 
ments  are  no  longer  in  existence,  but  the  translations  and  copies 
in  his  grandson's  handwriting  remain.  Enough  of  the  material  left 


12  INTRODUCTION 

by  Judge  Palmer  has  been  drawn  upon  in  these  pages  to  give  a  gen 
eral  view  of  Peter  Sailly's  career  and  some  insight  into  the  period 
cqvered.  The  Palmer  manuscripts  have  been  preserved  by  Miss 
Katherine  Palmer  of  Plattsburg,  N.  Y.,  daughter  of  Judge  Palmer. 
Miss  Palmer  has  donated  to  the  New  York  State  Library  the  main 
book  of  manuscript  notes  in  Judge  Palmer's  handwriting  with  the 
letters  and  other  documents  printed  as  appendixes  to  the  present 
sketch. 


This  portrait  is  reproduced  from  St  Memin.  Col 
lection  of  portraits.     N.  Y.  1862.     Plate  482 


I. 

EARLY  LIFE  IN  FRANCE 

Peter  Sailly  was  one  of  many  Frenchmen  who  came  to  America 
from  France  immediately  after  the  peace  of  1783  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain.  Reared  under  the  French 
monarchy,  he  was  a  typical  Frenchman  of  the  old  school ;  with 
abundant  adaptability  he  soon  became  a  typical  American  and  had 
revolutionized  his  political  views  before  the  upheaval  of  the  French 
Revolution.  Sailly  was  of  good  family,  thoroughly  educated,  of 
sterling  character,  and  brought  a  high  standard  of  culture  of  great 
value  in  a  new  country. 

When  Peter  Sailly  adopted  a  new  country  he  took  a  new  name. 
He  was  born  Pierre  Maire,  son  of  Frederick  Maire  who  resided  at 
an  iron  works  of  which  he  was  part  owner,  in  the  old  province  of 
Lorraine,  and  who  left  the  following  record  of  his  son's  birth: 
"  My  wife  was  confined  at  the  forges  of  Ste.  Marie  on  the  2Oth  of 
April,  1/54,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  a  son  who  was  baptized 
at  the  church  of  Attigny,  in  our  parish,  on  the  2ist  of  the  same 
month,  by  the  name  of  Pierre.  His  godfather  was  M.  Pierre 
Desaunets.  my  partner  at  our  forges  at  La  Hutte  and  Ste.  Marie, 
and  his  godmother  was  Mile.  Marianne  Bron,  daughter  of  M.  Bron, 
avocat,  of  Barney." 

Pierre's  father,  on  the  23d  of  July,  1747,  had  married  Marie 
SVbille  Neuilly,  daughter  of  Andre  Neuilly,  at  one  time  clerk 
or  recorder  of  Thann  and  afterwards  fiscal  agent  of  Cernay  in 
Alsace,  and  of  Marie  Elisabeth  Wilhoffer,  his  wife.  Frederick 
Maire  became  co-proprietor  of  the  forges  at  La  Hutte  shortly  before 
his  marriage  and  was,  when  married,  manager  of  the  forges  of 
Ste.  Marie,  of  which  he  was  later  a  part  owner.  These  forges  of 
La  Hutte  and  Ste.  Marie  were  located  close  together.  Frederick 
was  the  younger  son  (the  elder  being  Jean)  of  Jean  Marie  Quartier 
dit  Maire,  who  was  born  in  1704  in  Switzerland  and  who  left  that 
country  about  1722.  Jean  Marie  Quartier  dit  Maire  married 
Catherine  Belot,  daughter  of  Sieur  Belot,  captain  of  the  Swiss  regi 
ment  of  Purbeck,  and  rented  the  forges  of  St  George  in  Franche 
Comte.  He  became  a  citizen  of  Hericourt,  in  the  present  depart 
ment  of  Haute  Saone,  April  6,  1728,  and  soon  afterwards,  settled 


14  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

at  Thann,  Alsace.  He  was  a  Lutheran  and  his  son  Frederick  was 
a  Calvinist  but  both  became  Roman  Catholics  on  the  23d  of  June, 
1751,  by  an  act  of  abjuration. 

Jean  Marie  Quartier  dit  Maire  was  the  son  of  Abraham  Quartier 
dit  Maire,  a  merchant  of  Chaux-de-Fonds  and  of  Les  Brenets, 
Switzerland,  who  married  Anne  Marie  Huguenin  and  was  admitted 
as  a  citizen  of  Vallangin  the  i/th  of  April,  1697.  Members  of  the 
family  in  France  have  traced  the  line  back  for  many  generations.1 
The  family  name  Quartier  became  varied  in  Switzerland  by  the 
addition  of  Maire,  to  distinguish  the  branch  from  others  of  the 
same  family.  Several  generations  of  municipal  office-holding 
caused  the  words  "  dit  Maire  "  to  be  appended  to  the  name.  Later, 
the  branch  we  have  been  following  dropped  the  Quartier.  It  is 
known  that  the  change  of  faith  caused  some  heart  burnings  and 
estrangements.  Frederick  Maire  had  a  bent  for  versification  and 
produced  an  extended  composition  giving  an  account  of  his  con 
version  ;  also  several  short  pieces  of  verse,  some  of  which  were 
religious  and  others  laudatory  of  the  virtues  of  Louis  XV  and 
other  princes  of  that  line. 

The  family  was  distinctly  of  the  old  regime  and  Peter  Sailly 
himself  bore  arms  for  Louis  XVI  in  his  youth,  having  been  a 
member  of  a  corps  of  young  soldiers  of  good  family  who  formed  a 
bodyguard  for  the  king.  A  good  hunting  story  of  this  early  period 
survives  and  is  related  by  Chancellor  Walworth  in  a  letter 
(appendix  XX). 

Tall,  dark  and  slender,  Peter  Sailly  was  a  handsome  young  man. 
He  was  educated  for  professional  life.  In  his  youth  he  was  lively 
and  possessed  a  trace  of  what  a  European  relative  called  fickleness, 
On  December  19,  1775,  at  Larzicourt,  Champagne,  he  married 
Marie  Louise  Eleonore  Caillat,  daughter  of  Jean  Claude  Caillat, 
advocate  in  parliament  and  fiscal  agent  of  the  barony  of  Larzicourt, 
and  of  Marie  Therese  Le  Bel,  his  wife.  His  father  has  left  the 
following  quaint  account  of  his  part  in  outfitting  the  groom  for 
the  wedding:  "I  went  expressly  to  Larzicourt  at  the  request  of 
my  son  to  execute  his  contract  of  marriage.  This  journey  with  the 
cloth  and  other  articles  I  had  sent  him  for  his  wedding  suit,  and 
for  the  marriage  amounted  in  all,  making  deduction  of  the  two 
louis  d'or  which  he  had  lent  me  at  the  coronation  of  the  king  at 
Rheims,  to  300  livres,  money  of  Lorraine."  Advocate  Caillat,  his 


Charles-Edouard   Gagnon;  petites  notices  biographiques  et 
Edition   intime.     Quebec,    1914.     P.  36-38. 


PETER    SAILLY  15 

two  daughters,  Frederick  Maire  and  the  latter's  son  Pierre  had  all 
been  at  the  coronation  of  Louis  XVI.  The  two  daughters  had 
their  portraits  done  in  the  costumes  they  wore  on  that  occasion. 

The  early  harvest  of  young  Maire's  life  seems  to  have  been 
largely  of  business  disappointment.  He  was  drawn  into  the 
partnership  of  the  forges  but  the  ruin  of  the  business  was  assured 
before  that  time.  At  the  time  of  his  marriage  he  was  a  deputy  of 
subsidies,  a  position  in  connection  with  the  taxes,  at  Larzicourt. 
The  debts  of  the  iron  business  were  brought  home  to  him  and  for 
years  he  was  harassed  by  them;  in  1782  he  was  condemned  to 
pay,  jointly  and  severally  wTith  his  wife,  the  sum  of  13,500  livres. 

We  can  suppose  that  the  early  mistakes  were  not  likely  to  be 
repeated,  judging  from  a  letter  written  to  his  mother  under  date 
of  November  30,  1/83,  from  which  the  following  is  quoted  in  trans 
lated  form :  "  I  apprehend  from  your  letter  and  by  what  was  told 
my  wife  that  you  cry,  very  often,  over  my  lot.  Your  grief,  my 
dear  mother,  adds  much  to  the  chagrin  occasioned  by  my  misfor 
tune.  You  will  be  consoled  from  my  long  separation  from  you  by 
the  promise  I  made  you  to  live  with  all  propriety  and  economy, 
to  be  active  in  my  labor  and  careful  in  the  selection  of  my  associ 
ates,  that  the  deplorable  events  I  have  experienced  may  not  be 
repeated.  I  wrill  discharge  scrupulously  the  duties  of  an  honest  and 
brave  citizen  and  a  faithful  husband.  My  paternal  sentiments  are 
not  equivocal.  Do  not  doubt,  my  good  mother,  that  the  accom 
plishment  of  all  this  will  render  God  favorable  to  me.  I  am,  con 
fident  that  I  was  never  irreligious  and  I  can  boldly  again  raise  my 
eyes  toward  heaven.  My  wife  has  informed  me  of  the  arrange 
ment  made  with  M.  Jaquet.  Your  condition  is  quite  limited  but 
your  pressing  wants  will  be  provided  for  and  this  tranquilizes  me." 

Business  misfortune  with  its  imposition  of  financial  burdens  for 
which  he  was  not  responsible  evidently  was  the  main  cause  of  his 
departure  from  France,  and  of  his  change  of  name  and  country. 

II 
TRAVELER  AND  IMMIGRANT 

French  influence  in  America  "was  distinctively  of  two  sorts  — 
the  earliest  based  on  colonization  and  the  later  a  more  individual 
istic  form  of  ordinary  immigration.  The  soldiers  of  France  came 
first,  seizing  the  land  and  guarding  the  colonies  when  established. 
French  colonization  consisted  of  taking  small  sections  o£  Old  France 
and  setting  them  down,  root  and  branch,  to  grow  in  foreign  soil  — 


l6  NEW   YORK   STATE  .LIBRARY 

a  process  of  transplantation.  How  thoroughly  this  was  done  is 
shown  by  our  being  able  to  find,  today  a  France  of  the  sixteenth 
century  in  a  large  portion  of  Canada,  close  to  our  own  frontier. 
British  power,  the  English  language  and  the  proximity  of  a  great 
progressive  republic  have  not  destroyed  the  old  forms  and  cus 
toms.  The  institutions  of  Old  France,  political  and  religious,  still 
have  firm  root  there.  If  the  early  French  had  entered  the  Hud 
son  instead  of  the  St  Lawrence  and  spread  out  in  the  broad  expanse 
of  the  middle  colonial  area,  it  would  have  been  a  vast  undertaking 
to  dislodge  the  feudal  system  of  the  French  monarchy  so  trans 
planted. 

With  the  loss  of  New  France,  the  French  nation  lacked  the  means 
to  alleviate  hard  conditions  'at  home  by  the  colonization  policy, 
and  the  seeds  soon  began  to  sprout  for  the  great  harvest  of  revolu 
tion.  Toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  France  and  the 
American  colonies  became  friends.  France  supplied  ideas  of  pure 
democracy  which  promptly  took  root  in  this  country,  while  America 
furnished  principles  of  conservative  republicanism  and  representa 
tive  government.  Lafayette  and  his  companions  did  much  to 
popularize  new  thoughts  of  social  philosophy  in  this  country  and 
gave  great  vogue  to  American  ideas  in  France.  Many  immigrants 
came  and  the  incorporation  of  French  elements  has  had  a  consider 
able  influence  in  determining  lines  of  progress ;  while  the  introduc 
tion  of  the  better  types  of  French  life  and  manners  has  had  much 
to  do  with  advancing  civilization  in  America.  Of  this  sort  was 
Peter  Sailly's  contribution  to  his  adopted  country.  With  other 
French  immigrants  he  did  much  to  elevate  the  standard  of  living 
and  to  forward  development  in  the  northeastern  part  of  New  York 
State  where  he  settled. 

Sailly  first  visited  America  in  1784  on  a  trip  of  inspection  to 
see  what  the  new  world  had  to  offer  for  a  fresh  start  in  life.  His 
diary  of  a  portion  o-f  his  journey  ings  is  given  herewith  (appendix 
II).  On  April  4th  he  sailed  from  Paimboeuf  and  May  nth  found 
him  in  Philadelphia.  Iron  making  was  uppermost  in  his  mind  at 
the  start  and  he  was  on  the  outlook  for  iron  ore,  forges,  water 
power  and  mills.  He  visited  the  iron  works  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  and 
went  on  to  New  York.  Thence  he  immediately  set  out  for  Albany, 
the  outpost  for  two  main  areas  of  settlement  then  opening  in  this 
State,  the  Mohawk  valley  and  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Champlain. 
Exploring  the  Mohawk  territory,  he  was  on  the  point  of  buying 
land  there;  but  not  securing  the  terms  he  sought,  passed  on. 


PETER   SAILLY  \J 

Returning  to  Albany,  he  fell  in  with  William  Gilliland,  whose  land 
on  Lake  Champlain  appeared  attractive,  and  with  Gilliland  he  made 
a  trip  to  the  north.  Setting  out  by  wagon,  they  reached  Lake 
George,  which  they  traversed  in  a  canoe,  then  taking  a  sloop  on 
Lake  Champlain. 

Embarking  at  Fort  Ticonderoga,  Sailly  entered  an  area  which 
attracted  him  by  its  picturesque  features  and  business  possibilities. 
The  beauties  of  the  landscape  charmed  him  as  it  has  all  travelers. 
The  broadening  view  on  the  \vay  north  intensified  the  effect.  Here 
and  there  a  peak  emerging  from  the  timber  gave  a  lofty  touch, 
while  the  virgin  forest  spreading  over  the  country  and  the  many 
hills  and  mountains  suggesting  minerals,  all  gave  to  the  observing 
pioneer  the  impression  of  great  natural  resources  and  stored-up 
wealth  ready  for  the  taking.  Streams  entering  the  lake  gave 
promise  of  mill  sites  and  means  of  floating  logs  during  the  process 
of  clearing  the  land  for  cultivation.  There  was,  as  there  is  now, 
a  picturesque  effect  of  action  in  the  mountain  ranges.  The  abrupt 
slopes  of  the  Adirondacks,  many  of  them  close  to  the  lake,  gave  the 
suggestion  of  a  march  of  the  mountains  as  opposed  to  the  broad 
plain  to  the  east  of  the  lake  with  the  retreating  and  more  gradual 
slopes  of  the  Green  mountains  beyond.  Densely  wooded  shores, 
points  and  islands,  in  the  freshness  of  early  summer,  with  the 
brilliantly  tinted  mountain  masses  at  morning  and  evening,  all 
helped  to  produce  matchless  scenes  of  beauty  which  delighted  our 
French  home-seeker.  The  scene  on  every  hand  was  similar  to 
that  which  had  greeted  the  eyes  of  Sailly's  fellow  countryman, 
Samuel  Champlain,  on  his  voyage  of  discovery  a  century  and  three- 
quarters  before,  and  the  romance  of  a  rediscovery  must  have 
affected  the  susceptible  mind  of  Sailly.  On  their  voyage  Sailly 
and  his  companion  came  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Saranac  river. 
No  more  beautiful  stream  ever  flowed  into  ocean  or  lake  than  the 
Saranac  of  that  day,  rushing  down  from  lakes  in  the  heart  of  the 
Adirondacks,  through  the  primeval  wilderness  to  the  waters  of 
Lake  Champlain.  Its  mouth,  guarded  by  Norway  pines  and  other 
giants  of  the  forest,  contained  two  lovely  little  islands  embowered 
in  trailing  vines  and  wild  flowers ;  and  the  charm  of  the  place  was 
further  accentuated  by  a  picturesque  little  cove  with  a  pebbly  beach. 

The  voyager  was  tempted  by  the  surpassing  beauty  on  every  side 
and  the  commercial  possibilities  of  the  Champlain  valley,  but  hesi 
tated  to  settle,  anticipating  the  coming  of  another  war  with  Great 
Britain  and  the  devastation  to  be  wrought  thereby.  He  passed  on 


l8  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

and  viewed  some  of  the  seignories  of  Canada,  returning  over  the 
same  route  through  the  Champlain  valley  and  going  back  to  France 
the  same  year.  Franklin  had  a  like  vision  as  to  a  second  war, 
when  he  described  the  first  war  with  the  mother  country  as  the 
"  War  of  the  Revolution  " ;  adding,  "  the  war  for  independence  is 
yet  to  be  fought."  But  in  spite  of  doubts,  the  following  year,  1785, 
saw  Peter  Sailly  returning  to  Lake  Champlain  and  becoming  one 
of  the  founders  of  Plattsburg  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saranac. 

Prior  to  and  during  the  Revolution,  civilization  was  at  a  low 
ebb  in  the  Champlain  valley.  In  Canada  there  were  plenty  of  seign 
ories  and  a  considerable  population,  especially  along  the  banks  of 
streams,  but  south  of  Canada  all  was  confusion  for  a  hundred  miles 
or  more  on  both  sides  of  Lake  Champlain.  The  British  and  French 
had  disputed  the  territory  until  1759  and  after  that  the  colonies  were 
not  strong  enough  to  assure  safety  for  settlers.  The  French  settle 
ment  at  Crown  Point  had  promised  well  for  a  time  and  there 
had  been  considerable  progress  toward  civilization.  It  had  been 
an  extension  of  the  Canadian  system  of  development  under  the 
French,  a  peasant  form  of  settlement  of  a  distinctly  feudal  char 
acter.  The  French  settlers  had  led  a  reasonably  happy  life  between 
raids,  under  the  guns  of  the  fort,  and  at  times  there  had  been 
regular  communication  with  Canada  by  sailing  and  row  boats.  But 
the  French  improvements  had  all  disappeared  and  the  whole  sec 
tion  was  a  rough  and  dangerous  country  more  fitted  for  the  exploits 
of  men  like  the  Vermonters,  especially  those  bands  of  rugged  and 
pugnacious  pioneers  led  by  Ethan  Allen  and  his  friends,  or  for  the 
type  of  settlers  Gilliland  had  brought  in  before  the  Revolution,  the 
latter  being  of  the  poorer  class,  who  had  suffered  enough  in  their 
former  homes  to  make  them  thankful  for  almost  anything  and 
content  with  the  roughest  surroundings. 

This  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  Champlain  valley  continued 
until  Burgoyne's  army  of  invasion  was  finally  defeated;  and  even 
later  the  territory  was  much  overrun  with  rough  elements  until 
after  the  peace.  Then  both  sides  of  the  lake  began  to  revive, 
although  the  shadow  of  the  civil  war  growing  out  of  the  New  Hamp 
shire  grants  still  clouded  prospects  in  Vermont.  As  soon  as  peace 
was  established  men  of  substance  and  importance  turned  their 
faces  toward  the  Champlain  valley  and  when  they  came  they  brought 
the  existing  type  o'f  Colonial  civilization,  with  moderate  supplies  of 
capital,  most  of  the  ordinary  comforts  of  those  days  and  some  of 
the  luxuries. 


PETER    SAILLY  1 9 

In  the  year  of  1/85,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saranac  river,  was 
planted  a  new  settlement  destined  to  become  the  most  important 
on  Lake  Champlain.  Bringing  a  small  amount  of  milling  machin 
ery  and  large  amounts  of  energy  and  ambition,  a  band  of  pion 
eers  led  by  the  Platts  came  to  subdue  what  was  literally  a  wilderness. 
Here  they  set  themselves  down  on  both  sides  of  the  river  and  made 
their  dwellings  and  places  of  business  amid  most  picturesque  sur 
roundings.  Nature's  sway  was  complete  and  it  was  years  before 
the  works  of  man  seriously  marred  the  scenery. 

In  soliciting  recruits  for  the  settlement  Zephaniah  Platt  used 
these  words :  4<  I  could  wish  none  but  sober,  industrious  men  to 
settle  in  said  township,  such  as  bid  fair  to  do  well  for  themselves." 
Both  the  proprietors  and  settlers  were  a  goodly  kind  of  men  and 
laid  a  solid  foundation  for  the  town.  A  new  town  was  organized 
in  1785,  at  first  about  seven  miles  square,  and  both  town  and  village 
were  named  Plattsburg.  It  was  no  mean  company  with  which 
Sailly  cast  in  his  lot.  Zephaniah  Platt,  a  great  landowner  in  the 
Hudson,  Mohawk  and  Champlain  valleys,  was  the  leading  spirit. 
One  of  the  proprietors  of  .the  new  town  site  was  Melancton  Smith 
who  was  among  the  foremost  men  of  the  State  and  who  later  died 
of  yellow  fever  in  New  York  at  a  time  when  he  expected  to  pass 
his  declining  years  in  Plattsburg.  Smith  and  Platt  in  1788  exercised 
controlling  influence  at  Poughkeepsie  for  the  ratification  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Smith  was  a  leader  in  the 
debate,  first  standing  with  Clinton  against  the  Constitution  and  later 
turning  the  tide  in  its  favor.  Platt  was  a  Regent  of  the  University 
of  the  State  of  New  York  (1791-1808)  and  was  father  of  Jonas 
Platt,  another  of  New  York's  famous  men  who  came  later  to  end 
his  days  on  one  of  the  Platt  properties  near  the  Saranac.  Ezra 
rHommedieu  was  another  of  the  proprietors,  as  was  also  Thomas 
Treadwell.  There  was  a  Clintonian  tinge  to  the  roster  of  the  early 
Plattsburg  notables  which  was  still  more  apparent  a  few  years 
later,  when  Clinton  county  was  set  off  from  Washington  county  and 
the  Governor's  friends  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  honor 
his  name. 

Sailly  embarked  with  his  family  at  L'Orient  in  France  on  March 
22,  1785,  on  board  the  royal  packet  Le  Courier  de  FEurope,  Cornic 
Durmoulin,  master.  Landing  in  New  York,  Sailly  made  his  first 
extended  stop  at  Albany,  where  he  established  his  family  for  a  time.. 
Bearing  a  letter  from  a  Mr  St  John,  said  to  have  been  of  the  French 
diplomatic  service  (appendix  III),  Sailly  fell  in  with  Zephaniah 


2O  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

Platt,  who  was  then  engaged  in  obtaining  settlers  for  Plattsburg. 
Sailly  bought  of  Platt  a  tract  of  100  acres  on  Cumberland  Head, 
a  rocky  promontory  3  miles  from  the  site  of  the  new  village.  At 
Cumberland  Head  was  the  boat  landing  for  the  settlement. 

The  first  winter  Sailly  spent  mainly  in  the  north,  his  family  resid 
ing  in  a  house  taken  by  him  in  Albany.  In  the  spring  of  1786  they 
set  out  from  Albany  over  the  even  then  well-worn  road  to  Skenes- 
borough  (Whitehall)  and  there  took  boat  for  Plattsburg.  There 
was  a  substantial  movement  of  immigration  into  the  Champlain 
valley  at  that  time  and  not  a  few  families  had  Plattsburg  as  their 
destination.  But  this  was  a  great  plunge  for  women  and  children 
brought  up  in  a  settled  community.  The  banks  of  Lake  Champlain 
were  thickly  wooded  and,  whenever  a  stop  was  made,  the  eyes  of 
wild  animals  peered  from  the  leaves  observing  the  intruders.  It 
was  not  safe  to  wander  in  the  woods  for  there  were  plenty  of  bears, 
panthers,  wolves  and  other  large  animals  ready  to  repel  the  civil 
ized  invaders  of  the  wilds.  At  Cumberland  Head  the  Sailly  family 
moved  into  a  new  log  house  and  the  necessary  trips  to  the  village 
were  through  thick  woods  full  of  wild  life. 

The  Sailly  family  at  its  early  Plattsburg  home  consisted  of  Peter, 
his  wife  Maria  Louise  Eleonore  Caillat,  their  three  children,  Charles 
Lewis,  Julia  J.,  and  Maria  Louise  Eleonore  Sybille  Bernadine 
(called  Bernadine1)  and  Mrs  Sailly's  school  friend  and  companion, 
Marianne  Adelaide  Grellier.  The  youngest  child,  Emilia,  was  left 
behind  with  relatives  in  France  and  some  years  later  while  a 
young  girl  suffered  imprisonment  with  her  maternal  grandmother 
and  aunt  through  the  enforcement  of  the  revolutionary  laws.  It  is 
said  that  she  treated  the  flag  of  the  new  government  with  disrespect. 
In  after  years  she  used  to  relate  how,  while  confined  in  the  Bastille, 
she  watched  the  marks  on  the  doors  which  indicated  which  of  the 
prisoners  were  to  go  to  execution.  When  about  twenty  years  of 
age  she  came  to  her  father  in  his  American  home.  Mrs  Sailly  lived 
only  a  few  months  after  reaching  Plattsburg,  dying  December  23, 
1786.  This  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  death  in  the  new  settle 
ment.  On  June  8,  1789,  Sailly  married  Miss  Grellier,  which  is 
said  to  have  been  the  first  wedding  in  the  town.  Three  children 
were  the  result  of  this  union:  Eleonore  Marie,  Charlotte  Teressa, 
and  Frederick  Lewis  Charles. 


1  She  married  -Marin   Francois   Durand,   land  owner  and   deputy  collector 

of    customs    at    Plattsburg.      A    daughter,    Julia    Jane    Durand.  married 

Charles    Edouard    Gagnon,    whose    family    is    treated    in    Famille  Charles- 

Edouard   Gagnon;  petites  notices  biographiques  et  genealogiques.  Edition 
intime.     Quebec,  1914.     45  p. 


PETER    SAILLY  21 

At  first  Sailly  was  strongly  imbued  with  the  idea  of  becoming  an 
iron  master  in  the  New  World.  But  by  May  1785,  he  had  renounced 
this  plan  and  set  his  mind  on  peltries.  He  brought  about  30,000 
francs  worth  of  French  goods  with  the  idea  of  opening  up  an  export 
and  import  business  with  France.  These  goods  were  purchased 
on  credit  in  France  and  were  mainly  paid  for  with  furs  obtained 
from  the  Indians  or  money  derived  therefrom.  He  soon  found, 
however,  that  his  trade  was  better  served  by  purchasing  in  the 
wholesale  markets  of  the  United  States. 

There  is  an  interesting  though  brief  parallel  between  the  lives 
of  Sailly  and  John  Jacob  Astor,  with  the  added  element  of  personal 
contact.  Both  men  were  attracted  to  the  fur  trade  on  their  arrival 
in  America  at  about  the  same  time.  Astor  made  Albany  his  head 
quarters  for  his  northern  trade.  At  Piattsburg  the  two  men  had 
personal  and  business  relations,  developing  mutual  respect  and 
esteem.  Astor  frequently  came  to  Piattsburg  and  stayed  at  Sailly's 
house  and,  it  is  related,  would  spend  the  night  sleeping  in  front  of 
Sailly's  big  open  fire  in  the  kitchen.  Sailly  prospered,  but  not  as 
did  Astor,  whose  mind  was  completely  filled  with  business ;  Sailly 
early  developed  an  interest  in  public  affairs  and  civic  improvements, 
which  occupied  a  large  part  of  his  time,  such  things  being  crowded 
out  of  Astor's  mind  until  much  later  in  life.  The  Indians  with 
whom  Astor  traded  came  to  Sailly's  house  and  also  slept  in  the 
kitchen  before  the  fire.  One  of  the  little  girls,  then  of  the  Sailly 
household,  later  used  to  relate  how  she  was  carried  to  the  kitchen 
door  to  look  at  the  Indians  who  were  evidently  more  of  a  curiosity 
in  those  days  than  the  itinerant  white  fur  trader. 

Sailly  soon  found  that  his  proper  place  was  in  the  village  and 
he  moved  to  the  mouth  of  the  Saranac,  though  for  many  years 
the  boat  landing  was  kept  up  at  Cumberland  Head  and  for  a  long 
time  was  the  only  regular  landing.  He  first  established  himself 
on  the  south  side  of  the  mouth  of  the  river  but  a  few  years  later 
moved  across  to  the  high  bank  on  the  north  side  where,  about  1795, 
he  built  a  homestead  and  other  structures.  He  occupied  this  home 
until  his  death  and,  while  the  old  buildings  have  disappeared, 
descendants  have  ever  since  occupied  a  home  on  the  same  spot,  the 
present  dwelling  incorporating  part  of  the  old  house.  A  grand 
daughter,  Airs  Mary  Waite  Sailly  Warren,  died  in  this  home  in 
January  1918,  leaving  children  still  inhabiting  it. 

Soon  the  same  bank  on  which  Sailly  built  had  a  number  of  inter 
esting  homes.  A  few  rods  to  the  east  was  the  residence  of  Henry 


22  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

Delord,  also  an  immigrant  from  France.  The  Sailly  and  Delord 
homes  were  among  the  best  in  the  village  and  for  many  years 
afforded  hospitality  to  distinguished  visitors.  Between  these  two 
homes  was  that  of  Dr  and  Mrs  Oliver  Davidson,  the  parents  of  the 
young  girl  poets,  Lucretia  and  Margaret,  whose  short  lives  were 
eulogized  by  Washington  Irving  and  Catharine  Maria  Sedgwick. 

Plattsburg  soon  became  a  busy  little  place.  The  idea  of  the  set 
tlement  was  largely  mercantile,  but  there  was  -an  underlying  thought 
for  the  larger  forms  of  landed  proprietorship  and  not  few  were  the 
dreams  of  baronial  and  manorial  development.  The  great  proprie 
tary  domains  on  the  Hudson  and  elsewhere  had  not  then  proved 
their  impracticability,  and  delightful  was  the  vision  of  the  broad 
acres  of  the  valley  under  cultivation  —  if  only  the  forests  could  be 
got  out  of  the  way!  As  early  as  1/88,  when  the  population  of  the 
village  was  no  more  than  200,  it  was  the  seat  of  a  county  larger 
than  many  a  European  principality,  stretching  from  Fort  Ticon- 
deroga  around  and  across  the  Adirondacks  to  the  St  Lawrence. 
The  merchants  of  the  place  controlled  much  trade.  Clinton  county 
was  set  off  from  Washington  county  March  7,  1788;  Essex  county 
was  set  off  from  Clinton  in  1799;  and  Franklin  county  from  Clinton 
in  1808. 

When  travelers  came  to  the  new  settlement  after  it  was  fairly 
started,  they  \vould  sometimes  wax  eloquent  over  the  high  state  of 
civilization  found  there.  In  Winterbotham's  America  the  author, 
having  visited  Plattsburg  in  1792,  refers  to  the  settlement  in  the 
following  quaint  language :  "  They  have  artisans  of  almost  every 
kind  among  them  and  furnish  among  themselves  all  the  materials 
for  building,  glass  excepted.  Polite  circles  may  here  be  found 
and  the  genteel  traveler  be  entertained  with  the  luxuries  of  a  sea 
port,  a  tune  on  the  harpsicord  and  a  philosophical  conversation." 
Who  the  Plattsburger  was  who  furnished  the  "  philosophical  con 
versation  "  is  shrouded  in  mystery  but  there  were  several  capable 
of  the  performance,  including  Peter  Sailly.  While  the  dwelling 
houses  were  not  so  large  as  often  found  in  other  settlements,  still 
some  of  them  were  commodious  and  the  open-air  life  of  summer 
was  more  delightful  and  interesting  there  than  in  many  more  settled 
regions. 

In  the  new  community  Sailly  immediately  took  a  prominent  posi 
tion.  He  fitted  into  the  mercantile  side  of  the  new  life  perfectly, 
enlarged  his  business  and  helped  to  pull  down  the  forest  by  making 
potash  out  of  the  ashes  of  the  trees  and  by  taking  spars  and  timber 


PETER    SAILLY  23 

to  float  down  the  lake  and  the  Richelieu  and  St  Lawrence  rivers 
for  the  overseas  trade.  Loaded  boats  came  up  to  and  past  his  door 
and  went  out  writh  his  potash  and  the  various  forms  of  country  pro 
duce  in  which  he  dealt 

Until  about  1805  he  devoted  himself  assiduously  to  the  business 
of  merchandizing,  dealing  in  peltries,  manufacturing,  shipping,  and 
receiving  large  quantities  of  goods.  His  transactions  were  large 
and  he  set  up  a  store  on  Grand  Isle  in  Lake  Champlain  and  another 
at  Missisquoi  bay  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake,  and  later  was  inter 
ested  with  his  son  Charles  in  a  store  at  Champlain  on  the  Canadian 
border,  about  24  miles  north  of  Plattsburg.  The  merchants  of 
Plattsburg  in  the  early  days  procured  their  goods  largely  from 
New  York,  Albany  and  Troy.  Sailly  was  generally  represented  in 
the  southern  markets  by  D.  &  J.  Merritt,  of  Troy.  He  also  traded 
with  G.  &  J.  Aspinwall,  W.  &  H.  Onderdonk,  William  and  James 
Bailey,  and  Bailey  and  Fort,  of  New  York;  James  and  A.  Kane, 
Cadwell,  Van  Ingen  &  Company,  and  Caldwell  &  Son,  of  Albany ; 
George  and  Benjamin  Tibbitts,  Gorham  &  Company,  I.  D.  &  R. 
Selden,  and  Selden  &  Jones,  of  Lansingburg.  In  the  summer,  mer 
chandise  was  hauled  by  wagon  between  Troy  and  Whitehall  and 
on  the  lake  carried  in  sloops  and  bateaux.  In  the  winter  there  was 
considerable  exchange  of  goods  by  sleigh,  the  principal  outgoing 
product  being  potash. 

To  obtain  a  picture  of  the  early  Sailly  period  it  is  only  necessary 
to  take  a  composite  view  of  the  colonial  period  as  found  off  the 
main-traveled  highways  —  heavy  stage  and  good  sleigh  traffic  in 
winter ;  the  lighter  stage  travel  of  summer ;  the  coming  and  going 
of  the  lazy  sloops  and  the  bateaux  propelled  with  oars.  To  the 
colonial  features  should  be  added  the  slight  variations  growing  out 
of  the  Revolution.  WThile  the  refinements  of  life  were  for  the 
few  rather  than  the  many,  those  who  enjoyed  them  had  much  to  be 
thankful  for  and,  barring  one  or  two  inconveniences,  the  most  fas 
tidious  person  of  the  present  day  could  find  acceptable  hospitality 
in  the  old  houses  like  those  of  Sailly,  Delord  and  the  Platts.  The 
Spanish  Main  contributed  many  things  which  were  brought  up 
from  the  distributing  depots  at  New  York,  not  the  least  desired 
in  those  days  being  the  old  Jamaica  rum.  Byron  might  easily  have 
made  his  couplet  on  the  soothing  effects  of  religion  and  the  West 
Indian  product  while  on  a  visit  to  the  Saranac.  The  steamboats 
soon  brought  the  outside  world  nearer  with  some  of  its  sophistica 
tions  but  business  and  social  life  were  still  at  long  range.  The 


24  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

nearest  social  center  to  the  south  was  Albany.  The  nearest  govern 
ment  depository  was  for  many  years  in  New  York  and  we  can 
imagine  many  a  trip  made  by  Collector  Sailly  with  his  body  swathed 
with  coin  bags  well  filled  with  gold.  Much  of  the  business  of  the 
country  was  handled  by  orders,  bills  of  exchange  and  consignments 
of  goods;  every  merchant  was  largely  dependent  on  himself  and 
the  larger  dealers  had  often  to  perform  many  of  the  offices  of 
bankers. 

Socially  there  were  many  forms  of  activity  which  came  to  white 
heat  when  notables  arrived  needing  entertainment.  At  ordinary 
times  there  were  the  supper  parties  and  old  quilting  bees,  with  card 
games  for  those  so  inclined  and  for  a  masculine  set  sometimes  good 
high  play  with  convivial  accompaniment.  It  is  from  the  hither 
side  of  the  period  that  faint  recollections  come  of  a  robust  mascu 
line  circle,  of  which  Chancellor  Walworth  was  the  youngest  mem 
ber,  where  often  an  I  O  U  was  used  to  supplement  a  pile  of  real 
coin. 

Plattsburg  had  from  the  first  abjured  all  allegiance  to  the  forms 
of  royalty  and  nobility,  but  always  did  enjoy  visiting  notables  who 
might  come  its  way.  Civic  hospitality  was  always  extended  on  occa 
sion  and  Sailly,  Delord  and  a  few  others  delighted  to  open  their 
houses.  In  the  summer  of  1817  the  quiet  life  of  the  village  was 
startled  by  the  announcement  that  President  Monroe  would  make 
Plattsburg  a  stopping  place  on  a  tour  in  the  northern  states.  The  vil 
lage  trustees  were  called  together  in  haste ;  plenty  of  fervor  and  ora 
tory  were  available  for  the  occasion,  but  little  ready  cash.  The  idea 
of  "  drives  "  for  patriotic  purposes  had  not  developed ;  but  there  was 
a  sum  of  money  on  hand  for  the  purchase  of  a  fire  engine,  and  this 
the  trustees  commandeered  for  the  welcome  of  the  chief  magistrate. 
The  affair  was  romantic,  even  idyllic.  Military  escort  was  provided 
as  well  as  a  welcoming  speech  from  Attorney  Walworth ;  the  young 
ladies  of  the  village  boarding  schools  strewed  the  President's  path 
with  flowers ;  a  party  was  given ;  church  attended.  On  Monday  the 
village  outdid  itself.  As  the  President  wended  his  way  west 
toward  Ogdensburg,  the  party  came  to  a  bower  on  the  bank  of  a 
brook  about  13  miles  out  of  Plattsburg,  where  a  superior  collation 
was  laid  out  to  be  partaken  of  by  the  President,  his  suite,  officers  of 
*^Q  army  and  citizens.  In  connection  with  this  repast  it  is  recorded : 
rt  fti  such  a  mpment,  so  congenial  to  convivial  gayety,  form  and 
ceremony  have  no  place;  age  loses  its  caution,  philosophy  itself  is 
taken  off  its  guard,  and  the  flow  of  soul  alone  triumphs."  Mr 


PETER    SAILLY  25 

Waldo,  the  President's  Boswell  for  the  occasion,  in  his  account  of 
the  trip  said :  "  In  no  place  through  his  extensive  tour  was  the 
President  received  with  more  undissembled  tokens  of  respect  than 
at  Plattsburg  " ;  adding,  "  He  partook  of  it  [the  collation]  with  a 
heart  beating  in  unison  with  those  of  his  patriotic  countrymen  by 
whom  he  was  surrounded;  and  acknowledged  this  unexpected  and 
romantic  civility  with  unaffected  and  dignified  complacence." 

About  the  same  time  that  the  Plattsburg  settlement  \vas  inaugu 
rated  another  settlement  was  begun  at  Champlain,  which  soon 
became  an  important  point,  under  the  leadership  of  Pliny  Moore. 
There  was  much  rivalry  for  many  years  and  there  were  many  con 
tentions,  the  Champlain  settlers  often  feeling  that  Plattsburg  was 
a  tyrant  with  an  iron  heel.  Pliny  Moore  was  an  able,  forceful  man 
and  if  numbers  and  business  had  been  more  evenly  divided  between 
the  two  settlements,  he  might  possibly  have  tyrannized  at  times 
over  the  Plattsburg  end  of  the  county.  In  these  rivalries  Sailly 
seems  to  have  maintained  the  respect  of  both  sides  and  he  had  a 
long  correspondence  with  Pliny  Moore. 

Ill 
IN  PUBLIC  LIFE 

Even  before  Clinton  county  was  set  off  and  named,  that  part  of 
Washington  county  had  a  strong  Clintonian  trend.  Among  the 
leaders,  the  friends  of  George  Clinton  predominated  and  with 
them  Sailly  joined  in  an  allegiance  to  the  Republican  party  (then 
the  party  professing  democratic  principles  and  opposed  to  the 
Federalist  party)  which  allegiance  lasted  the  rest  of  his  life. 
Sailly  had  a  political  career  of  his  own,  which,  begun  early,  was 
followed  through  the  administration  of  various  local  offices ;  which 
took  him  to  the  Legislature  at  Albany,  to  Congress,  and  placed 
him  for  the  rest  of  his  life  in  an  important  federal  office. 

\Vhen  Clinton  county  was  organized  in  1788  Sailly  was  one  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  county  among  whom  the  local  offices  were  divided, 
he  being  made  one  of  the  associate  justices  of  the  court  of  com 
mon  pleas.  On  the  Qth  of  June,  in  that  year,  he  and  the  other  newly 
chosen  officials  were  sworn  in  with  due  formality,  and  in  October 
he  assisted  in  holding  the  first  court  of  sessipns.  There  were  con 
siderable  form  and  ceremony  in  those  days  in  the  administration 
of  public  affairs  and  the  new  officials  meeting  to  take  office  swore 
in  and  signed  the  roll  with  much  the  same  dignity  and  solemnity 
that  accompanied  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


26  NEW  YORK  STATE  LIBRARY 

This  was  before  silk  stockings  and  knee  breeches  had  gone  out. 
It  was  many  years  before  the  constables  ceased  to  carry  tipstaves, 
and  in  those  old  days  the  courts  were  conducted  with  much 
ceremonious  parade. 

Sailly  Tield  the  office  of  judge  for  eight  years,  was  one  of  the 
overseers  of  the  poor  in  1/89,  1790,  1791,  1803,  and  1804,  a  com 
missioner  of  highways  and  school  commissioner  in  1797  and  1798, 
and  supervisor  of  the  town  in  1799  and  1800.  In  1788  he  was 
second  major  in  the  militia,  resigning  that  position  in  1789.  In 
1802  he  was  made  one  of  the  commissioners  to  build  a  court  house 
and  jail.  Court  was  held  in  an  enlarged  block  house  on  the  lake 
shore  near  the  Sailly  residence  until  the  new  court  house,  on  the  site 
of  the  present  one,  was  completed.  In  1804  Sailly  was  appointed 
"first  judge"  of  the  county.  In  the  spring  of  1809  he  began  to 
act  as  a  commissioner  for  the  lending  of  money.  Under  Governor 
Tompkins  he  built  an  arsenal  which  was  finished  in  August  1810. 
About  1808  a  corps  of  associated  patriotic  exempts  was  organized 
at  Plattsburg,  of  which  Sailly  was  a  member. 

In  1797  he  took  part  in  a  meeting  for  the  organization  of  a 
library  association.  In  1811  Plattsburg  contained  78  dwellings,  a 
court  house,  four  taverns,  thirteen  stores,  and  eleven  shops  and 
offices,  including  two  newspapers  and  printing .  offices,  a  forge, 
tannery,  two  sawmills,  grist-mill,  fulling-mill,  hatter's  shop,  and 
two  asheries  for  the  manufacture  of  potash.  In  the  spring  of  that 
year  Sailly  took  part  in  the  organization  of  the  Plattsburg  Acad 
emy,  which  was  built  by  voluntary  subscription  and  completed 
the  following  year.  This  academy  became  an  important  institu 
tion,  and  was  incorporated  and  finally  affiliated  with  the  State 
Department  of  Education.  The  board  of  trustees  of  the  old 
academy  survived  almost  to  this  day  as  a  functioning  institution, 
possessing  power  of  appointment  of  five  out  of  ten  members  of 
the  board  of  education  of  the  city  of  Plattsburg,  until  a  recent  act 
of  the  Legislature  took  away  this  power. 

It  was  a  curious  game  the  early  politicians  of  the  young  State 
were  playing  in  those  days.  They  had  just  fought  in  the  Revolu 
tion  and  disputed  the  divine  right  of  kings ;  but  they  seized  the 
power  formerly  vested  in  King  George  and  took  it  to  themselves, 
and  with  limited  franchise  and  divers  rules  and  regulations  prac 
tically  converted  it  into  the  divine  right  of  politicians.  Under  the 
new  system  we  find  Sailly  in  Legislature  and  Congress  for  one 
term  each,  though  associated  with  those  fully  able  to  keep  him 


PETER    SAILLY  2/ 

there  longer  and  secure  his  advancement.  His  abilities  were  well 
above  the  average.  Perhaps  he  did  not  like  being  dependent  on 
the  great  political  overlords ;  possibly  the  latter  did  not  find  him 
quite  pliant  enough;  or  again  possibly  the  one  term  of  service  in 
two  of  the  most  important  legislative  bodies  and  a  resultant  federal 
office  were  quite  in  line  with  his  modest  aspirations. 

He  first  broadened  his  public  life  beyond  his  local  activities  when 
he  went  to  the  State  Legislature.  He  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  twenty-sixth  session  held  in  1803,  receiving  181  votes  out  of  the 
189  cast  for  the  office  in  Plattsburg.  He  served  in  this  session 
with  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  soon  to  become  Governor.  The  Repub 
licans  were  in  the  ascendancy,  in  all  departments  of  the  State  gov 
ernment  and,  with  the  help  of  a  new  council  of  appointment,  the 
State  had  been  swept  clean  of  federal  officeholders,  the  former 
incumbents  being  replaced  with  Republicans.  George  Clinton  was 
drawing  to  the  close  of  his  career  and  DeWitt  Clinton  was  coming 
on  the  stage.  The  latter  had,  with  Ambrose  Spencer,  laid  firm 
hands  on  the  political  wires  controlling  offices  all  over  the  State. 
Appointive  positions  were  entirely  at  their  disposal  and  elective 
offices  followed  wherever  the  Republican  machine  was  in  the 
ascendancy.  Ambrose  Spencer  became  a  strong  friend  of  Sailly. 
New  York  State  was  thoroughly  boss-ridden  as  early  as  the  first 
decade  of  the  last  century,  but  the  bosses  were  amiable  and  broad- 
minded,  for  those  days,  when  the  distribution  of  offices  was  not  in 
question.  The  chief  end  of  man  in  those  early  times  in  New  York 
State  was  to  start  the  settlement  and  development  of  the  untamed 
portions  of  the  State's  territory  and  legislation  was  actively,  and  to  a 
very  substantial  degree  intelligently,  used,  with  some  admixture  of 
special  privilege  to  make  things  seem  worth  while. 

The  musty  little  volume  which  contains  the  acts  of  the  Legisla 
ture  of  1803  is  not  a  record  of  great  achievement,  but  does  show 
an  understanding  of  at  least  some  of  the  purposes  of  government 
and  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  possibilities  of  special  privilege,  all 
expressed  in  the  same  crabbed  legal  phraseology,  descended  from 
the  English  draftsmen,  which,  with  increasing  verbosity,  has  for 
more  than  a  century  spread  such'  a  vast  network  of  words  over 
all  the  governmental  function  of  the  State.  There  was  much  done 
to  regulate  the  offices  of  counties  and  towns,  roads,  turnpikes,  toll 
bridges  and  waterworks,  with  an  abundance  of  commissions  and 
special  incorporations.  There  was  an  act  relating  to  the  Fulton 
steamboat,  a  law  authorizing  a  lottery  for  great  roads  —  one  road 


28  NEW  YORK  STATE  LIBRARY 

being  laid  out  as  far  as  Champlain  in  Clinton  county  —  an  act  to 
prevent  dueling,  against  the  trapping  of  deer,  regulating  the  pack 
ing  and  inspection  of  beef  and  pork,  for  the  sale  of  unappro 
priated  State  lands,  incorporating  the  New  York  State  Bank,  and 
many  others.  Locally  there  were  laws  relating  to  accounts  between 
Clinton  and  Essex  counties,  compelling  Clinton  county  supervisors 
to  raise  $1000  to  complete  the  court  house  and  jail,  and  creating  a 
ferry  across  Lake  Champlain  at  Cumberland  Head. 

In  the  Legislature  Sailly  gained  new  insight  into  the  intricacies 
of  American  politics.  He  had  left  France  when  it  was  a  land  of 
special  privilege,  oppression  and  corruption,  and  he  looked  for 
better  things  in  America.  So  he  was  surprised  at  Albany  to  learn 
ot  the  practice,  -when  a  bank  was  being  organized  by  act  of  the 
Legislature,  of  allotting  shares  to  members  of  the  Legislature  to 
help  the  law  through.  The  bank  franchises  were  valuable  and  the 
allotted  shares  went  above  par  before  issue,  producing  a  bonus  f or 
thrifty  legislators  who  chose  and  were  expected  to  sell  out. 
Sailly  saw  that  the  allotment  of  shares,  even  though  the  subscrip 
tions  were  paid  for,  was  a  mere  bribe  for  votes.  He  not  only 
voted  against  the  bank  which  his  friends  desired  to  and  did  incor 
porate,  but  he  refused,  upon  the  passage  of  the  act,  to  take  advan 
tage  of  the  shares  assigned  to  him.  The  New  York  State  Bank 
was  chartered  while  Sailly  was  a  member  of  assembly.  Chancellor 
Wai  worth  (see  his  letter,  appendix  XX)  is  authority  for  this  inci 
dent  in  Sailly's  career  and  for  the  statement  that  the  distribution 
of  shares  was  intended  for  all  members  whether  they  voted  for 
the  bill  or  not.  Governor  Tompkins  also  refers  to  this  incident 
in  a  letter  to  Sailly  (Military  Papers  of  Tompkins,  2:412).  This 
letter  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  the  number  of  shares  was 
sixteen  for  each  member  and  the  profit  on  each  share,  as  sold, 
six  dollars. 

This  was  before  Tompkins  became  Governor.  As  a  member  of 
the  Legislature  in  this  session,  he  also  declined  the  bank  bribe.  He 
and  Sailly  became  close  friends  during  this  session  and  the  friend 
ship  lasted  for  many  years.  There  are  several  interesting  letters 
from  Tompkins  to  Sailly  which'  it  would  be  surplusage  to  repro 
duce  here,  as  they  are  available  for  reference  in  the  published  col 
lection  of  the  Military  Papers  of  Governor  Tompkins.  The  most 
interesting  of  these  (2:412)  is  the  one  referred,  to  in  which  the 
Governor  unbosoms  himself  to  Sailly  as  to  raids  on  the  Legislature 
for  more  bank  charters,  the  muzzled  press  and  the  rapidly  waning 


PETER    SAILLY  '^9 

standard  of  morality  at  the  State  capital.  In  one  of  these  letters 
to  Sailly  (2:279)  the  Governor  describes  quite  vividly  the  manner 
in  which  he  paid  out  his  private  funds  for  the  military  purposes  of 
the  government  and  the  trouble  he  had  in  getting  his  money  back, 
finally  having  to  remit  by  his  own  check  $145.80,  including  an 
amount  of  $15  due  Sailly  from  the  government  for  storage  and 
various  small  sums  for  -the  subsistence  of  officers. 

There  is  little  ground  for  surmise  as  to  family  migrations  to 
Albany  but  there  is  a  tone  of  family  intimacy  in  many  of  Governor 
Tompkin's  letters  which  leads  to  the  supposition  that  members  of 
the  Sailly  family  had  accompanied  its  head  on  at  least  some  of 
the  trips  to  the  State  capital. 

Hardly  a  year  had  passed  after  Sailly's  retirement  from  the 
Legislature  before  he  was  elected  representative  to  the  ninth  Con 
gress  (March  4,  1805  to  March  4,  1807)  for  the  district  composed 
of  Saratoga,  Clinton  and  Essex  counties.  At  this  election  Sara 
toga  cast  2403  votes,  Clinton  452  and  Essex  477.  •  His  service  in 
Washington  was  in  the  first  session  of  President  Jefferson's  second 
term. 

Sailly  was  a  valiant  partisan  and  evidently  a  warm  friend  of 
the  Republican  politicans  of  the  State,  though  not  a  pliant  tool. 
It  was  altogether  in  their  hands  who  should  hold  office,  and  sending 
Sailly  to  Washington  reflected  credit  on  them,  strengthened  the 
party  locally,  and  graced  the  New  York  delegation  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  with  a  man  well  above  the  average  in  culture 
and  attainments.  He  won  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  Jefferson, 
resulting  in  his  receiving  his  federal  office  at  the  hands  of  the 
President.  Sailly  had  a  strong  command  of  language  in  writing, 
though  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  he  shone  as  a  public  speaker. 
He  seems  to  have  made  his  residence  in  Washington  a  solitary  one ; 
at  least  it  does  not  appear  that  any  of  his  family  accompanied  him. 

Sailly  had  to  defend  the  President  and  his  party  from  many 
attacks.  Several  letters  or  extracts  from  letters  show  his  concep 
tion  of  politics,  as  well  as  his  style  of  composition  and  some  of  his 
habits  of  mind.  One  of  these  letters,  under  date  of  May  26,  1806, 
was  written  to  his  personal  friend  but  political  opponent,  William 
Bailey,  then  of  Chateaugay,  later  of  Plattsburg,  on  the  subject  of 
the  post  road  between  Plattsburg  and  Ogdensburg  (appendix  V). 
tie  apparently  failed  to  seize  the  postal  patronage  as  a  weapon  and 
left  to  Bailey,  a  political  opponent,  the  selection  of  places  for  post 
offices  and  of  deputy  postmasters,  promising  his  indorsement  of 


3O  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

nominees,  provided  some  "  respectable  "  Republicans  should  join 
in  the  petitions,  "  in  order  that  it  may  not  be  a  party  business  but 
that  the  petition  or  letter  to  the  postmaster  general  may  express 
the  wishes  of  the  community  generally."  Sailly  had  gained  too 
rapidly  in  political  strength  and  reputation  not  to  have  excited 
jealousy  and  made  enemies  in  his  own  party,  and  he  says  with 
some  feeling  to  Bailey  in  connection  with  the  post  road  matter : 
"  I  must  rely  on  your  candor  and  do  appoint  you  the  keeper  of  my 
political  reputation  in  that  respect,  believing  it  will  be  more  tenderly 
used  than  it  has  been  by  a  few  demo-aristocrats  here,  who  by 
insidious  practices  have  raised  a  sort  of  hue  and  cry  against  me 
in  this  county." 

The  thought  arises  that  possibly  part  of  Sailly's  value  to  his 
party  arose  from  Federalist  friendships  and  connections,  or  that  a 
desire  to  conciliate  opponents,  as  a  matter  of  party  policy,  had 
angered  some  workers  in  the  Republican  ranks.  The  true  inward 
ness  of  this  as  well  as  of  some  other  situations  is  veiled,  for  Sailly's 
grandson,  Peter  Sailly  Palmer,  had  a  way  of  obliterating,  eliminat 
ing  and  destroying  in  connection  with  the  Sailly  papers.  Sailly 
made  a  practice  of  preserving  facts,  as  is  shown  by  the  substantial 
amount  of  information  that  has  come  down  to  us,  and  his  intimate 
acquaintance  with  inside  history  extended  over  a  period  of  intense 
partisanship,  and  war  besides,  when  there  were  many  acid  tests  of 
loyalty  and  disloyalty;  all  business,  too,  in  the  north  was  compli 
cated  with  smuggling.  Judge  Palmer  hinted  more  than  once  that 
there  were  things  in  the  Sailly  papers  that  might  keep  members  of 
good  old  families  awake  nights  and,  being  a  natural  friend  of  peace 
and  quiet,  the  judge  evidently  made  himself  an  instrument  for  pre 
venting  undue  annoyance.  Once,  speaking  in  reference  to  his 
grandfather's  diary  or  record  book,  Palmer  remarked  in  substance : 
"  This  must  be  destroyed  when  I  have  copied  what  ought  to  be 
saved.  There  are  many  things  in  it  which  might  make  trouble  or 
cause  annoyance  to  many  good  people."  The  local  history  of  these 
early  years  is  very  much  in  the  dark,  for  it  was  before  the  era  of 
local  newspapers  in  those  parts,  and  family  burnings  and  paper 
mills  have  consumed  most  of  the  old  collections  of  family  letters 
and  documents  which  might  throw  light  even  at  this  late  day. 

The  ascendancy  won  by  DeWitt  Clinton  and  Ambrose  Spencer 
had  not  been  secured  without  blows  and  there  were  plenty  of 
festering  bruises  of  a  political  nature.  Aaron  Burr's  network  of 
wires  extended  everywhere  and  produced  many  an  intrigue  and 
jealousy  impossible  to  understand  now. 


PETER    SAILLY  31 

In  another  letter  (quoted  in  appendix  VI)  Sailly  shows  what  he 
had  to  contend  against.  The  form  of  this  letter,  as  it  survives, 
comes  through  Judge  Palmer's  censorship  and  the  elision  of  names 
was  made  by  the  latter,  doubtless  out  of  tender  regard  either  for 
the  feelings  of  those  alluded  to  or  their  descendants. 

Sailly  quickly  recognized  the  effect  of  southern  preponderance 
in  the  councils  of  the  Nation.  He  perceived  the  territorial  feeling 
in  the  South  and  how  the  statesmen  of  that  section  regarded  the 
North,  and  how  jealous  they  were  as  to  the  settling  of  the  areas  in 
the  northeastern  part  of  the  country.  It  would  have  been,  Sailly 
saw,  no  sorrow  to  the  South  if  the  United  States  were  to  lose  a 
goodly  portion  of  the  northern  part  of  New  York  and  New  Eng 
land;  and  he  recognized  the  same  feeling  when  the  young  republic 
of  Vermont  was  begging  for  admission  to  the  Union,  the  South 
and  Vermont's  big  neighbor,  New  York,  being  in  opposition  to  the 
plan. 

Before  his  return  from  Washington,  friends  had  renominated 
Sailly  for  Congress,  but  he  suppressed  this  movement  in  favor  of 
John  Thompson,  of  Saratoga  county,  who  was  elected,  carrying 
both  Clinton  and  Essex  counties,  as  well  as  Saratoga.  Thompson 
served  a  second  term.  We  can  only  suspect  that  a  bit  of  history 
fitting  in  here  has  disappeared.  It  was  the  most  natural  thing  in 
the  world  that  Sailly  should  have  a  second  term  and  it  was  hardly 
likely  that  he  would  have  been  renominated  against  his  will.  It 
may  be  that  he  stopped  in  Albany  and  found  from  Spencer  that 
the  gods  of  the  party  were  not  auspicious  or  possibly  had  a  con 
venience  in  giving  a  member  of  Congress  to  Saratoga  county,  at 
the  more  populous  end  of  the  district.  At  any  rate,  Sailly  was 
acquiescent  and  loyally  handed  over  majorities  in  the  two  northern 
counties. 

In  1807  Sailly  gave  effective  support  to  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  for 
Governor.  Morgan  Lewis  had  carried  Clinton  county  against 
Aaron  Burr  in  1804  and  was  then  running  against  Tompkins. 
Sailly  got  into  harness  and  secured  a  majority  of  1/6  for  Tompkins 
in  Clinton  county,  giving  him  159  votes  in  Plattsburg,  a  lead  of  no 
in  that  town.  Es-ex  was  also  carried  for  Tompkins  through 
Sailly's  efforts  and  Republicans  were  sent  to  the  assembly  from 
both  counties. 

To  show  an  old  school  example  of  dignified  campaigning,  another 
letter  in  the  Tompkins  canvass  of  1807,  under  date  of  April  4, 
1807,  is  quoted  in  appendix  VIII. 


32  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

When  DeWitt  Clinton  ran  for  Lieutenant  Governor  in  1811, 
Sailly  was  stronger  than  ever  on  the  Clintonian  side,  and  it  was  in 
that  year  that  he  joined  with  other  political  associates  to  found  a 
newspaper  to  voice  their  sentiments  in  state  and  national  affairs. 
There  was  too  much  Federalist  sentiment  to  suit  them,  notwith 
standing  the  waning  of  that  party,  and  the  newspaper  in  Plattsburg 
was  not  giving  satisfaction  from  the  anti-Federalist  point  of  view. 
The  result  was  the  establishment  of  the  Plattsburg  Republican,  one 
of  the  few  papers  of  that  day  to  survive  to  the  present  time.  It 
had  the  satisfaction  in  its  first  few  weeks  of  supporting  and  record 
ing  the  success  of  DeWitt  Clinton,  and  of  joyfully  chronicling 
the  fact  that  Marinus  W'illett  received  only  one  vote  in  the 
county  of  Clinton,  that  vote,  however,  having  been  cast  in  the  town 
of  Plattsburg. 

IV 
IN  GOVERNMENT  SERVICE 

In  the  spring  of  1808  Sailly  again  took  up  his  merchandizing 
business  and  soon  became  agent  to  supply  the  small  body  of  troops 
sent  into  Clinton  county  to  enforce  the  embargo.  He  held  this 
position  under  Elbert  Anderson,  the  government  contractor,  most 
of  the  time  until  the  spring  of  1813,  being  then  appointed  keeper 
of  public  stores. 

President  Jefferson,  having  known  Sailly  as  an  able  representa 
tive,  a  strong  Republican  and  a  supporter  of  his  administration, 
on  February  8,  1809,  made  him  collector  of  customs  for  the  Dis 
trict  of  Champlain.  By  letter  dated  December  I,  1808,  Governor 
Tompkins  had  called  the  attention  of  Secretary  Albert  Gallatin 
to  suspicions  which  had  arisen  as  to  the  fidelity  of  the  then  col 
lector,  Brigadier  General  Melancton  Lloyd  Woolsey,  and  sug 
gested  an  investigation  (Tompkins,  Military  Papers,  2:165).  Sailly 
filled  the  office  without  intermission  to  the  end  of  his  life.  From 
the  age  of  fifty-five  on,  he  made  this  government  service  his  life 
work  —  and  strenuous  work  it  was. 

While  the  embargo  was  in  force,  the  opposition  to  it,  so  active 
in  New  England,  extended  along  the  New  York  frontier.  Armed 
resistance  and  even  secession  \vere  talked  of,  and  smuggling  was 
rampant.  While  the  appointment  as  collector  was  highly  compli 
mentary  to  Sailly,  it  was  not  solicited,  according  to  Judge  Palmer ; 
and  it  is  even  suggested  that  it  was  against  his  wishes. 

The  Champlain  customs  district,  established  in  1/99,  extended 
from  Rouses  Point  to  the  St  Lawrence  river  near  the  west  line  of 


PETER    SAILLY  33 

the  St  Regis  reservation  in  Franklin  county,  a  long  and  difficult 
boundary  to  protect.  There  were  several  important  settlements 
along  the  line  and  between  them  wild  territory  crossed  by  smugglers' 
trails  and  roads.  At  French  Mills  (Fort  Covington)  was  a  British 
subject  conducting  contraband  trade  and  other  merchants  were 
heavily  interested  in  the  illicit  commerce.  Within  a  few  weeks  after 
his  appointment  the  new  collector  had  personally  inspected  the 
entire  northern  boundary  of  his  district  and  had  developed  a  plan, 
which  was  carried  out,  for  guarding  the  eastern  part  of  the  bound 
ary  by  inspectors  and  soldiers.  The  western  part  of  the  territory 
was  practically  cut  off  from  communication  with  the  south,  making 
strict  enforcement  of  the  laws  for  the  time  practically  impossible, 
and  extensive  efforts  would  have  met  with  prompt  armed  resist 
ance.  On  this  part  of  the  boundary,  reliance  had  to  be  placed 
mainly  on  individual  efforts  of  inspectors ;  but  to  the  eastward 
organized  operations  soon  resulted  in  a  great  improvement  in  law 
enforcement. 

By  the  act  of  June  28,  1809,  exportation  to  British  possessions 
was  prohibited  "  in  ships  or  vessels  only."  So  all  traffic  to  Canada 
was  not  forbidden.  But  before  navigation  closed  the  law  was 
evaded  by  the  erection  of  line  wharves  half  in  one  country  and  half 
in  the  other.  United  States  vessels  would  tie  up  to  these  wharves 
on  the  south  side  and  the  goods  be  unloaded;  then  the  packages 
would  be  placed  on  board  British  vessels  moored  on  the  other  side, 
all  under  the  eyes  of  the  inspectors.  During  the  winter  of  1809- 
10  great  quantities  of  timber  were  collected  on  Lake  Champlain 
to  be  rafted  to  Quebec.  In  the  spring  of  1810  about  2,500,000  cubic 
feet  of  timber,  about  one-eighth  white  oak  and  the  remainder 
Norway  pine,  of  the  value  of  about  $600,000  were  rafted  into 
Canada,  about  half  a  million  cubic  feet  of  Norway  pine  being 
taken  from  the  town  of  Plattsburg.  In  the  spring  of  1811  importa 
tions  from  Canada  were  forbidden.  Montreal  was  full  of  specu 
lators.  Sailly  established  a  secondary  line  of  inspectors  in  the 
southern  part  of  his  district  and  spurred  up  the  collector  of  New 
York  to  keep  a  stricter  watch.  Many  seizures  were  made  and  the 
smugglers,  goaded  to  desperation,  several  times  resorted  to 
violence. 

Eearly  in  1812  the  smugglers,  having  devised  new  routes,  were 
passing  large  quantities  of  goods  in  the  western  part  of  the  district, 
and  Sailly  went  through  the  wilderness  to  investigate,  finding  a 
weak-kneed  population  unwilling  to  help  enforce  the  law.  The 


34  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

lumbermen  of  that  winter  prepared  for  heavy  rafting  operations 
in  defiance  of  law,  the  revenue  force  being  inadequate  to  stop  the 
traffic.  In  one  instance  a  raft  manned  by  100  men  with  40  sails 
set  passed  down  the  Richelieu.  The  rafts  that  year  resulted  in 
large  losses,  for  the  declaration  of  war  came,  Quebec  merchants 
failed  to  pay  and  several  bankruptcies  ensued. 

In  1812  United  States  merchants  importing  by  way  of  Canada 
placed  within  the  collector's  reach  large  quantities  of  goods  which 
were  seized  by  Sailly  for  the  protection  of  the  owners. 

The  pressure  of  events  made  stirring  times  along  the  border  and 
brought  them  home  to  the  ordinarily  peaceful  village  by  the  lake. 
Collector  Sailly  practically  held  his  residence  as  a  fortified  castle 
and  at  night  slept  on  his  arms,  close  by  his  office  at  the  front  of 
the  house.  He  had  stored  seized  goods  in  the  house  and  an  attempt 
to  take  them  was  apparently  the  motive  involved  in  an  exciting 
incident  in  January  1812.  A  band  of  lawbreakers  came  to  his  house 
in  the  night  and,  entering,  found  a  shot  gun  in  the  office.  Stopping 
to  bend  the  barrel  of  the  fowling  piece,  they  went  on  to  beard  the 
lion  in  his  den.  Noise  at  his  bedroom  door  roused  Sailly  and  he 
sprang  to  meet  the  desperadoes  with  a  loaded  pistol  in  each  hand. 
The  foremost  assailant  snapped  his  own  pistol  but  received  a  ball, 
which  caused  a  serious  wound,  from  one  of  the  collector's  pistols. 
Sailly  fired  again,  slightly  wounding  another  of  the  attacking  party. 
Pie  then  dashed  back  to  change  his  empty  weapons  for  a  brace  of 
loaded  ones  which  were  in  reserve  b>;  the  head  of  his  bed  and, 
rushing  to  the  front  door,  he  discharged  them  at  the  party  then  in 
full  retreat.  The  wounded  man  was  helped  into  a  sleigh  which 
was  in  waiting  and  was  driven  off.  Blood  stains  on  the  snow  later 
helped  to  trace  the  sleigh  to  a  house  in  the  village.  Nor  was  this 
all  the  blood  shed  that  night ;  for  Sailly's  daughter,  Charlotte 
Teressa,  later  the  mother  of  Judge  Palmer,  flitted  across  the  snow 
to  neighbor  Delord's,  in  her  night  clothes  and  with  bare  feet,  to 
give  the  alarm.  Next  day  her  course  was  traceable  by  bloody  foot 
prints,  for  she  cut  her  feet  on  the  sharp  ice. 

One  of  the  outlaws  escaped  into  Canada  and,  in  writing  to  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  Sailly  made  a  suggestion  for  extradition 
between  the  United  States  and  Canada  in  these  words :  "  Canada 
will  be  as  it  has  been  at  all  times  a  retreat  for  the  perpetrators  of 
crimes  within  our  country.  It  would  be  desirable  and  would  add 
much  to  our  security  should  the  two  governments  reciprocally  agree 
to  restore  criminals."  He  also  took  up  with  Governor  Tompkins 


PETER    SAILLY  ^ 

the  matter  of  securing  from  Canada  one  of  the  assailants,  Colbraith, 
who  had  fled  the  country. 

After  the  attack  on  the  collector's  house,  the  report  went  abroad 
that  Sailly  had  been  murdered.  Ambrose  Spencer,  one  of  the  jus 
tices  of  the  State  Supreme  Court  and  one  of  the  most  influential 
men  in  the  State,  heard  this  report  and  wrote  Sailly  from  Albany 
as  follows :  "  My  dear  friend :  I  can  not  describe  to  you  the  agony 
of  mind  I  experienced  on  hearing,  in  a  way  calculated  to  command 
belief,  that  you  had  been  shot  and  was  left  expiring.  A  universal 
gloom  overspread  the  countenances  of  all  your  acquaintances. 
Judge  then  the  joy  we  felt  on  finding  that  you  had  shot  a  burglar 
in  bravely  defending  your  castle.  Indeed,  my  friend,  though  I 
appreciated  your  worth  as  a  citizen,  a  friend  and  a  patriot,  I  did  not 
before  know  that  you  were  so  universally  esteemed,  though  I  knew 
you  deserved  it.  I  trust  that  hereafter  the  daring  and  unprincipled 
violators  of  law  will  refrain  from  attacking  a  man  who  knows  so 
well  how  to  defend  himself.  I  congratulate  you  and  your  family 
on  this  signal  deliverance." 

Once  after  this  attack  Sailly  was  writing  at.  his  table  in  his  office 
opposite  the  windows  looking  out  on  the  river  bank,  his  daughters 
with  him  in  the  room,  when  two  men  appeared  under  the  poplars 
in  front  of  the  house  and  were  heard  to  talk  about  shooting  him 
as  he  sat  writing.  He  continued  writing  while  his  daughters,  much 
alarmed,  urged  him  to  leave  the  room.  Then,  as  related  by  his 
grandson,  he  said :  "  My  dear  children,  do  not  be  alarmed.  If  those 
men  intended  to  harm  me  they  would  not  give  me  notice  of  what 
they  meant  to  do."  Nothing  happened  and  the  men  soon  went 
away. 

For  a  time  Sailly  was  entrusted  with  the  payment  of  annuity 
money  to  the  Caughnawaga  and  St  Regis  Indians  and  the  former, 
during  the  war,  more  than  once  failed  to  appear  at  the  regular  time 
of  payment,  owing  to  British  influence.  In  1815  the  Caughnawafcas 
appeared  and  received  the  money.  In  1834  an  allegation  was  made 
by  the  St  Regis  Indians  that  Sailly  had  interfered  in  restoring  to 
the  Caughnawagas  the  payment  of  their  moiety.  James  B.  Spencer 
took  the  side  of  the  St  Regis  chiefs  who  claimed  a  release. 
Azariah  C.  Flagg,  formerly  the  Plattsburg  editor  and  the  friend  of 
Sailly,  who  was  State  Comptroller  at  the  time,  decided  the  pretended 
release  to  be  entirely  lacking  in  authenticity.  The  payment  of  their 
moiety  was  continued  to  the  Caughnawagas  until  1841,  when  they 
received  the  principal  of  their  share.  When  this  matter  came  up 


36  NEW  YORK  STATE  LIBRARY 

Comptroller  Flagg  used  the  following  language  regarding  Sailly: 
"  Peter  Sailly  was  for  many  years  an  agent  for  paying  the  annuities 
to  the  northern  Indians;  and  those  who  knew  the  man,  need  no 
other  voucher  than  his  high  character  for  probity  and  uprightness, 
to  assure  them  that  his  interference  in  this  matter,  as  the  agent  of 
the  State,  was  guided  by  no  other  motive  than  a  desire  to  answer 
the  ends  of  truth  and  justice."  (Assembly  Documents,  1835,  v.  5, 
No.  318.) 

V 
WAR  WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN 

It  would  be  a  mistake  to  build  on  the  modest  personality  of 
Peter  Sailly  a  great  character  of  the  War  of  1812.  He  did,  how 
ever,  take  a  leading  part  in  the  struggle  in  the  northern  part  of 
New  York,  was  one  of  the  staunchest  friends  the  Government  had 
anywhere  and  showed  a  far-sighted  perception  of  the  war  situation 
from  first  to  last,  which  was  rare  in  those  days  of  obscurity  and 
blundering.  When  the  young  radical  politicians  of  the  time 
fomented  the  war  and  brought  into  existence  a  real  American 
nationalism,  they  had  little  regard  for  the  commerce  of  the  sea 
board  and  the  integrity  of  the  wedge  of  territory  projecting 
between  the  ocean  and  Canada.  The  war  movement  was  southern 
in  its  inception  and  made  progress  slowly  in  the  north.  The  early 
war  party  cared  little  for  the  fact  that  a  large  part  of  New  Eng 
land  was  in  the  lion's  mouth  and  that  the  Nation  was  in  danger  of 
dismemberment,  if  only  the  British  jaws  could  close  on  this  corner 
of  the  young  republic.  This  part  of  America  was  so  full  of  dis 
content  and  secession  sentiment  that  an  invasion  from  Canada 
seemed  almost  certain  to  succeed.  But  when  the  war  came,  the 
Republican  politicians  of  New  York  dismissed  for  a  time  their 
many  private  feuds  and  held  the  State  firm.  Governor  Tompkins 
proved  himself  a  great  war  Governor  and  there  were  here  and 
there,  along  the  line  from  Lake  Ontario  to  Maine,  enough  strong 
citizens  to  hold  the  border  and  subdue  the  disloyalty  which  was 
rampant.  Sailly  was  one  of  the  most  useful  and  vigilant  of  these 
local  figures.  He  took  a  frank  way  of  exhibiting  his  loyalty.  He 
was  continually  abusing  the  administration  for  neglecting  the  defence 
of  the  border  and  gave  warning  of  all  the  events  and  movements 
which  were  continually  threatening  and  happening.  He  beheld  not 
only  the  neglect  of  the  administration  but  the  treachery  of  his 
neighbors,  the  roads  on  both  sides  of  Lake  Champlain  black  with 
cattle  seeking  an  enemy  market,  naval  stores  and  spars  going  from 


PETER    SAILLY  37 

his  district  to  the  Richelieu  to  destroy  the  government  and  always 
and  in  all  places  the  blight  of  smuggling  and  law-breaking  corrupting 
the  community.  He  saw  his  home  twice  sacked  by  soldiers  and 
his  village  twice  in  the  possession  of  the  enemy.  He  witnessed  the 
preliminaries  of  the  battle  and,  when  driven  to  a  neighboring  town, 
heard  the  guns  which  turned  the  tide  and  left  him  secure  as  the 
representative  of  the  Government  of  which  he  had  been  a  most 
efficient  defender  in  civil  life. 

These  few  years  marked  the  supreme  period  in  Sailly's  career 
and  the  Battle  of  Plattsburg  was  the  dramatic  climax  of  his  life. 
In  spite  of  the  modest  and  incomplete  way  in  which  events  are 
recorded  in  the  few  things  we  have  left  of  him,  it  is  worth  trying 
to  draw  even  a  meager  outline  of  the  local  war  picture,  to  place 
him  in  his  proper  setting. 

War  was  declared  June  18,  1812,  and  proclaimed  by  the  Presi 
dent  the  following  day;  the  news  reached  Plattsburg  on  the  24th 
at  midday.  Sailly  (though  official  notification  was  not  received  by 
the  government  authorities  until  July  7th)  immediately  repaired  to 
the  border,  ordered  his  officers  to  prevent  all  intercourse  and  with 
ten  stand  of  arms  borrowed  from  the  State  arsenal  at  Plattsburg 
and  some  boarding  pikes  made  for  the  purpose,  armed  the  two 
revenue  cutters  and  the  revenue  boat  at  Rouses  Point. 

On  July  27,  1812  (appendix  IX),  writing  to  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury  about  seized  importations  of  American  merchants,  Sailly 
added  the  following  in  regard  to  the  defence  of  the  border :  "  The 
British  brig  of  war  the  Prince  Edward  is  repairing  at  St  Johns. 
We  have  no  force  on  this  lake  nor  a  battery.  The  gun  boats  are 
out  of  repair.  I  am  informed  by  a  friend  at  Washington  that  the 
invasion  of  Canada  is  not  contemplated  to  take  place  very  soon, 
We  must  therefore  be  here  on  the  defensive.  But  the  British  hav<* 
begun  by  taking  our  fort  at  Michilimackinac.  They  may  continue 
where  there  is  a  prospect  of  success.  I  think  the  regular  troops 
ought  to  be  near  the  frontiers  instead  of  being  placed  at  Albany. 
Our  inhabitants  are  alarmed  and  are  moving  off.  There  is  not  a 
single  stand  of  arms  in  Vermont  nor  a  single  man  ordered  to  the 
protection  of  our  frontier/' 

To  show  Sailly's  independence  of  character  and  fearlessness,  we 
find  him  the  author  of  many  protests  and  warnings  directed  to 
government  officials  and  calculated  to  spur  the  authorities  to  a 
change  in  the  policy  of  neglect  toward  the  northern  frontier  to  one 
of  protection.  A  number  of  these  instances  are  quoted  in  the 


3  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

appendixes,  under  various  dates:  July  27,  1812,  referring  to  the 
brig  of  war  at  St  Johns  and  the  unprotected  state  of  the  country 
(IX)  ;  June  n,  1813,  which,  coming  just  before  the  Murray  raid, 
proved  immediately  prophetic  (X)  ;  August  4,  1813,  when  the  lesson 
of  the  Murray  raid  was  hammered  home  (XI)  ;  December  21,  1813, 
when  the  construction  of  the  Confiance,  the  British  flagship  at  the 
Battle  of  Plattsburg,  was  foreshadowed  (XII)  ;  and  August  4,  1814, 
relating  to  the  impending  invasion  (XIV). 

Our  southern  generals  seemed  to  despise  the  territory  they  had 
been  sent  north  to  defend  and  left  behind  them  on  the  border  a 
record  for  incompetency  seldom  equaled.  Weak  skirmishing  in 
Canada  confirmed  the  opinions  of  British  officers  that  America  was 
an  easy  prey.  Lack  of  sentries  made  possible  the  descent  of  Murray 
and  the  sacking  of  Plattsburg  in  1813.  It  was  only  after  many 
appeals  and  warnings  that  Macdonough  and  Macomb  were  set  to 
wrork  to  defend  the  lake.  Their  preparations  were  necessarily  of 
the  most  hurried  character  on  land  and  water  and  it  seemed  more 
than  likely  that  the  defence,  after  all,  would  fail. 

The  real  war  was  a  long  time  in  coming  to  Plattsburg,  and  in  his 
official  duties  Sailly  had  to  grapple  with  a  mass  of  details  affect 
ing  the  government  in  many  ways.  From  1808  to  1815  Sailly  acted 
almost  continuously  as  local  agent  of  the  government  contractor, 
as  agent  for  the  commissary  department  of  the  army  or  as  military 
storekeeper  in  providing  and  distributing  supplies  for  the  troops. 
These  duties  were  arduous,  especially  after  the  declaration  of  war. 
Before  taking  hold  for  the  government  contractor  Sailly  remarked 
in  a  letter :  "  I  will  do  my  best  after  the  first  of  January  to  keep  the 
business  of  Mr  Anderson  going,  and-  will,  first  of  all,  discharge  a 
lazy  drone  of  a  cooper,  who,  I  think,  does  not  earn  his  victuals." 

It  was  not  always  easy  to  secure  the  supplies  needed  and  there 
was  a  heavy  drain  of  cattle  and  provisions  from  New  York  and 
Vermont  into  Canada.  The  season  of  1812  was  very  .wet  and  crops 
were  very  much  injured  in  Clinton  county  and  Vermont.  In  1812 
Sailly  was  paying  3  cents  for  beef,  $1.88  and  $2  for  wheat,  $9.88 
and  $10  a  barrel  for  flour.  Rye  and  Indian  corn  were  even  scarcer 
than  wheat.  Whiskey  at  56  cents  a  gallon,  "  all  wastage  deducted," 
helped  to  hold  down  the  high  cost  of  living,  even  in  war  times. 
In  the  fall  of  1813  grain  and  beef  were  very  scarce  in  Montreal. 
Wheat  brought  $4  a  bushel  and  fresh  beef  brought  eight  to  ten  dol 
lars  a  hundredweight.  Smuggling  that  winter  was  very  actively 
pursued  along  the  border.  (In  1799  Sailly  had  paid  for  wheat  7 


PETER    SAILLY'  39 

shillings  a  bushel,  for  corn  4  and  6,  for  oats  2  and  8;  for  pork 
42  shillings  a  hundredweight.) 

In  January  1813  Sailly  recommended  contracting  for  a  thousand 
pairs  of  shoes  at  10  to  12  shillings  a  pair,  putting  off  the  hides  of 
the  cattle  killed  for  beef,  in  payment.  In  the  same  month,  Freligh's 
mill  at  Plattsburg  being  out  of  commission,  Sailly  had  to  draw  flour 
from  the  mill  at  Chazy  (about  18  miles  away),  sending  back  wheat, 
the  round  trip  by  sleigh  handling  8  barrels  of  flour  one  way  and 
20  bushels  of  wheat  the  other,  costing  about  $2.50.  Rye  could  not 
be  had  for  a  dollar  a  bushel.  People  would  not  weigh  the  rye  but 
sold  it  by  measure  and  he  calculated  the  price  to  make  the  rye  flour 
at  least  25  per  cent  cheaper  than  the  wheat  flour.  There  was  little 
corn  and  little  of  it  white.  A  man  from  Jay  sold  60  bushels  of  rye 
and  60  of  corn  at  9  shillings  6  a  bushel.  Also  in  January  1813 
Sailly  instructed  his  millers  at  Chazy  and  Champlain  to  "  buy  all 
the  rye  and  corn  possible  at  9  shillings,  to  grind  all  the  rye  possible 
and  mix  one-third  with  two-thirds  of  best  wheat  flour." 

In  the  winter  of  1812-13  Sailly  had  much  to  do  with  caring  for 
and  supplying  the  troops,  consisting  of  three  regiments  which  were 
in  winter  quarters  there  under  Colonel  Zebulon  Montgomery  Pike 
at  what  was  called  Pike's  cantonment.  Colonel  Pike  was  made  a 
brigadier  general  and  on  April  27,  1813  was  killed  while  gallantly 
fighting  in  command  of  the  expedition  which  attacked  York,  the 
then  capital  of  Upper  Canada.  Collector  Sailly  said  of  General 
Pike  that  "  he  was  on  all  occasions  zealous  in  support  of  the  laws." 

On  June  20,  1813  Sailly  ceased  to  be  the  contractor's  agent  and 
became  keeper  of  the  public  stores  at  Plattsburg,  and  in  December 
he  became  principal  storekeeper  on  the  Champlain  frontier.  When 
Sailly  gave  up  the  agency  for  the  contractor  he  suggested  the 
appointment  of  Reuben  H.  Walworth,  the  future  chancellor,  then 
beginning  the  practice  of  law  in  Plattsburg,  in  these  words  :  "  Reuben 
H.  Walworth  is  a  very  industrious  young  man,  a  very  good 
accountant  and  very  punctual.  He  is  qualified  for  any  kind  of 
business." 

About  the  second  year  of  the  war  the  smugglers,  being  hard 
pressed  by  Sailly,  started  a  campaign  of  litigation  bringing  all  sorts 
of  proceedings  against  the  collector.  With  a  man  named  Colden, 
whose  goods  had  been  seized,  Sailly  had  ten  years  of  litigation. 
Colden  called  in  Aaron  Burr  as  counsel,  who  pledged  himself  to 
secure  a  return  of  the  property  seized  and  to  reverse  the  forfeiture. 
But  even  the  redoubtable  Burr  could  not  defeat  the  ends  of  govern- 


4<D  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

ment  on  the  border.  Most  of  the  suits  were  in  county  court  and 
these  Sailly  defended  with  such  energy  that  he  soon  drove  the 
smugglers  to  the  wall. 

John  Jacob  Astor  was  one  of  the  American  merchants  interested 
in  getting  goods  out  of  Canada.  He  sent  large  quantities  of  furs 
to  Montreal  from  Michilimackinac  when  the  latter  place  capitulated 
to  the  British  and  he  himself  hurried  to  meet  Collector  Sailly,  reach 
ing  Plattsburg  July  2,  1812,  with  a  letter  from  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  urging  that  every  facility  be  afforded  Astor  and  other 
merchants  for  introducing  their  merchandise  into  this  country. 
Sailly  had  already  entered  on  the  course  suggested  by  making 
friendly  seizures  of  goods  placed  within  his  reach. 

Twenty-six  bales  of  Astor's  furs  were  immediately  brought  in, 
seized  and  rushed  through  to  New  York  in  charge  of  an  inspector. 
In  November  Astor  brought  through  to  New  York,  in  the  same 
way,  27  puncheons  and  19  bales  of  furs,  estimated  at  $50,000  value. 
In  this  lot  were  20,380  marten  pelts,  46  bear,  18,000  muskrat,  526 
fisher,  6021  otter,  3389  mink,  2048  fox,  271  cat,  and  6  wolf.  In 
February  1813,  another  large  lot  of  furs  was  taken  out  for  Astor, 
and  in  November,  1813,  another  lot  comprising  221  bales  and  9 
hogsheads. 

In  connection  with  these  importations  Astor  paid  Sailly  $500  in 
lieu  of  claims  which  the  collector  might  personally  have  against  the 
goods,  a  perfectly  above-board  transaction,  which  was  later  raked 
up  by  a  malevolent  steamboat  man  seeking  to  secure  Sailly's  removal 
from  office.  Astor  wrote  a  letter  to  William  H.  Crawford,  secretary 
of  the  treasury,  at  Sailly's  request,  and  that  letter  and  a  note  from 
Astor  to  Sailly  are  included  in  appendix  XIX. 

Astor  on  this  visit  of  July  2d  reported  defection  in  Canada  on 
the  part  of  men  being  drafted  for  military  service  at  Lachine  and 
firing  between  troops  sent  from  Montreal  and  the  militia.  This 
information  was  sent  to  Governor  Tompkins  by  Sailly  through 
Major  General  Mooers,  reaching  the  latter  on  or  before  July  8th, 
as  shown  in  a  letter  from  the  Governor  transmitting  it  to  General 
P.  B.  Porter  (Tompkins  Papers,  3:21). 

The  war  knitters  were  busy  in  1812,  as  they  have  been  in  1917-18. 
In  December  of  that  year  Sailly  received  from  the  Governor  a  box 
containing  about  140  pairs  of  woolen  stockings  and  40  pairs  of 
mittens,  and  a  tierce  and  a  half  barrel  containing  337  pairs  of  socks, 
50  pairs  of  stockings,  20  pairs  of  mittens.  The  box  came  from  the 


PETER    SAILLY  41 

ladies  of  Newburgh  and  the  tierce  and  half  barrel  from  those  of 
Hudson.  These  comforts  Sailly  sent  forward  to  the  men  guarding 
the  advanced  line  along  the  border. 

VI 

RAIDS  AND  SMUGGLERS,  1813-14 

The  Murray  raid.  On  July  31,  1813,  the  inhabitants  of  Platts- 
burg  saw  a  flotilla  rounding  Cumberland  Head.  It  brought  Colonel 
Murray,  a  British  force  of  1400  or  more,  and  any  amount  of  con 
sternation  to  the  village.  A  company  of  militia  was  hastily 
assembled,  and  in  sight  of  the  approaching  boats  the  captain  solved 
his  dilemma  by  instructing  his  soldiers  to  fight  or  run  as  occasion 
might  require.  The  militia  discreetly  withdrew  to  a  distance  of 
some  miles  and  Murray  landed  unmolested.  He  promised  fairly 
enough  when  the  citizens  interceded  with  him  for  the  protection  of 
private  property,  but  before  he  went  away  he  virtually  sacked  the 
town,  causing  great  destruction  of  private  as  well  as  of  government 
property.  In  a  letter  written  August  4,  1813  (appendix  XI),  Col 
lector  Sailly  referred  to  this  raid  and  forcibly  expressed  himself 
as  to  the  unprotected  state  of  the  country.  Murray's  advance  up  the 
lake  was  entirely  unopposed  and  was  virtually  a  surprise. 

An  incident  occurred  during  Murray's  stay,  throwing  some  light 
on  the  treachery  so  prevalent  on  this  side  of  the  border.  Murray 
was  walking  with  citizens  who  were  importuning  him  for  protec 
tion  of  property  and,  the  day  being  warm,  took  off  his  hat  to  mop 
his  forehead,  when  a  paper  fell  out.  William  Gilliland,  son  of 
Sailly's  old  traveling  companion,  who  had  died  in  1796,  dropped 
his  handkerchief  over  the  paper  and  secured  it.  The  document  con 
tained  information  as  to  the  best  mode  of  attack  on  Plattsburg  and 
a  plan  of  the  military  encampment  at  Burlington,  the  handwriting 
being  that  of  Joseph  Ackley,  an  inhabitant  of  Plattsburg,  who  had 
recently  come  from  Canada.  Ackley  was  arrested,  admitted  the 
writing  of  the  letter,  and  was  taken  to  Albany ;  but  no  further  action 
was  taken  against  him  and  he  returned  to  Canada,  whence  he  had 
come,  with  his  family. 

Sailly  had  sent  some  libeled  goods  in  his  possession  and  official 
records  and  papers  to  Peru  Landing  by  boat  and  from  there  they 
were  taken  inland.  He  had  also  sent  his  family  to  Peru.  His  own 
house  and  many  other  dwellings  were  sacked  and  their  contents 
taken  away  or  ruined. 


42  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

The  Hampton  raid.  In  September  1813,  General  Wade  Hampton, 
probably  spurred  by  the  war  department  because  of  Sailly's  com 
plaints,  moved  his  army  from  Burlington  to  Cumberland  Head 
and  from  there  marched  on  his  expedition  for  the  invasion  of 
Canada,  which  proved  a  fiasco.  The  officers  and  men  fought  well 
in  the  encounters  that  took  place,  but  there  was  no  plan  of  compaign 
and  no  result  of  any  consequence.  Hampton's  force  and  other 
troops  were  later  ordered  into  winter  quarters  at  Plattsburg. 

With  his  regular  business,  the  war  activities  and  the  troops  at 
Plattsburg,  Collector  Sailly  had  a  busy  time  during  the  winter  of 
1813-14. 

The  assiduity  of  the  Vermonters  in  supplying  the  enemy  is  shown 
in  an  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Sailly  to  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  as  follows:  "Vast  numbers  of  sleighs  from  Lake  Magog 
to  Lake  Champlain  are  passing  daily  with  provisions  and  other  goods 
into  the  neighboring  territory.  They  go  in  company  and  nothing 
but  a  military  force  appointed  for  the  purpose  can  stop  them." 

Major  Benjamin  Forsyth,  stationed  at  Chazy,  while  raiding  in 
Canada,  captured  near  Lacolle  some  British  goods  and  several 
horses;  and  on  another  raid  a  lot  of  goods  at  Odelltown.  Sailly 
immediately  claimed  the  property  and  received  that  taken  at  Odell 
town,  but  the  other  things  had  been  distributed  among  the  soldiers 
as  recompense  for  their  baggage  lost  at  Ogdensburg,  February 
22,  1813. 

On  one  occasion  an  officer  of  Major  Forsyth's  command,  on 
going  to  the  British  lines  with  a  flag  of  truce,  brought  back  a  roll 
of  carpet  said  to  be  a  present  from  the  commander  at  Odelltown 
to  General  Wilkinson.  Keen  on  the  scent  for  smuggling,  one  of 
Sailly's  inspectors  seized  the  package  and  brought  it  to  the  collector. 
General  Wilkinson  disclaimed  all  knowledge  of  it  and  soon  a  letter 
was  received  by  Judge  Delord  explaining  that  the  carpeting  was 
to  replace  that  destroyed  in  Delord's  house  at  the  time  of  Murray's 
raid.  The  officer  and  gentleman  responsible  for  the  sending  of  the 
carpet  was  J.  Ritter,  major  of  the  British  sixth  light  infantry.  This 
letter  is  given  in  appendix  XIII. 

During  the  winter  Sailly  had  a  new  experience  with  smugglers. 
Commodore  Macdonough  reported  to  him  that  one  John  Banker 
was  cruising  on  Lake  Champlain  as  a  privateer,  holding  a  commis 
sion  from  the  federal  government.  His  boat  was  the  Lark,  one  of 
three  boats  built  in  New  York  for  smuggling  on  the  lake  and  used 
for  that  purpose  in  the  summer  and  fall.  She  was  about 


PETER    SAILLY  43 

three-fourths  of  a  ton  burden  and,  when  rowed  by  four  men,  was 
said  to  make  about  10  miles  an  hour.  Banker  had  a  crew  of  three 
men  armed  with  muskets.  The  boat  could  carry  several  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  dry  goods.  It  would  cruise  at  the  line  by  con 
nivance  of  British  officers  and  tranship  the  goods  to  be  smuggled. 
Banker  landed  some  goods  at  Whitehall  and  forwarded  them  in  two 
wagons,  which  were  stopped  at  Granville  by  an  inspector,  whereupon 
one  James  Hooker,  in  charge  of  the  wagons,  presented  a  prize- 
master's  certificate  from  "John  Banker,  Captain  P.  Armed  Boat 
Lark."  But  Sailly  was  on  the  trail  of  the  privateer  and,  on  Decem 
ber  6,  1813,  wrote  to  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  as  follows:  "  I 
have  had  the  honor  to  inform  you  by  letter  dated  the  2Qth  ultimo 
that  John  Banker  had  a  commission  for  privateering  on  this  lake. 
He  has  brought  in  a  boat  with  a  parcel  of  goods  owned  by  an 
American  citizen,  which  he  took  without  doubt  with  the  owner's 
consent,  at  or  near  the  boundary  line.  He  landed  at  three  different 
places  within  this  district,  but  did  not  report  himself  or  his  cap 
tured  goods  to  the  collector.  By  this  new  method  smuggling  seems 
in  some  measure  to  be  legalized.  Such  sham  privateers,  without 
other  defence  than  three  men  and  three  muskets  on  board,  do  not 
go  near  the  boundary  line  without  the  permission  of  the  British 
armed  boats,  which  is  easily  obtained  by  the  American  smugglers. 
This  singular  privateer  fired  lately  a  musket  ball  into  a  ferry  boat 
carrying  passengers  from  one  side  of  the  lake  to  the  other,  in  order 
to  bring  it  to,  at  a  distance  of  about  60  miles  south  of  Canada.  I 
have  thought  it  my  duty  to  inform  you  of  this  scheme,  the  deepest 
for  smuggling  that  has  ever  been  witnessed  on  this  lake."  The 
privateer's  commission  was  revoked  and  that  form  of  smuggling 
ceased. 

VII 

THE  BATTLE  OF  PLATTSBURG 

In  Augusf  1814,  the  British  planned  an  invasion  of  the  Cham- 
plain  valley  simultaneously  by  land  and  water.  Sir  George  Prevost 
repaired  to  Isle  Aux  Noix  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Champlain,  where 
he  effected  a  heavy  concentration  of  troops  while  the  British  fleet 
was  hastily  outfitting  on  the  Richelieu  river.  Plattsburg  was  recog 
nized  as  the  first  objective  of  the  coming  attach  and,  on  the  American 
side  of  the  boundary,  military  stores  were  moved  southward  in  large 
quantities  as  far  as  Whitehall,  while  the  population  pushed  forward 
preparations  for  a  general  evacuation.  As  late  as  July  faithless 
Americans  had  been  smuggling  timber  and  tar  across  to  the  British 


44  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

to  help  them  complete  the  man-of-war  Con  fiance,  which  was  build 
ing  for  the  attack  on  Plattsburg  and  which  became  the  ill-fated 
flagship  of  Commodore  Downie.  On  July  13,  1814,  Sailly  had 
again  warned  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  of  the  impending  invasion 
and  had  reported  his  plan  to  remove  his  office  and  records  to  the 
southern  part  of  the  district  out  of  reach  of  the  British. 

The  Battle  of  Plattsburg  was  a  culminating  event  in  several 
lives.  It  made  Thomas  Macdonough,  gave  well-earned  fame  to 
Alexander  Macomb,  and  overwhelmed  Sir  George  Prevost,  helping 
to  send  him,  covered  with  chagrin  and  disgrace,  to  an  early  grave. 
It  was  also  a  momentous  occasion  to  Peter  Sailly.  His  cause  was 
that  of  the  Government ;  his  home  was  at  stake ;  the  precise  con 
tingency  he  had  forseen  nearly  a  third  of  a  century  before  had 
come  to  pass ;  according  to  the  issue  of  the  fight,  he  would  be  either 
personally  and  officially  triumphant,  or  again  a  wanderer  at  the 
age  of  sixty. 

At  or  near  Montreal  was  gathered  the  large  British  force  of  about 
15,000  men  available  for  invasion.  These  troops  included  eleven 
regiments  of  regulars,  fresh  from  the  Peninsular  campaign,  trained 
under  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  By  order  of  the  war  department, 
an  American  force  of  about  4000  men  under  General  Izard  was 
withdrawn  from  the  vicinity  of  Plattsburg  and  marched  for  Sac- 
kett's  harbor  ma  Schenectady,  starting  from  Champlain  and  Chazy 
about  August  29th.  Macomb's  effective  force  was  reduced  to 
about  1500  men  before  it  began  to  be  swollen  by  arrivals  of  militia 
from  Vermont  and  the  south.  The  feeling  in  Canada  was  that  the 
northeastern  corner  of  the  United  States  was  ready  to  welcome 
British  rule,  and  that  all  that  was  necessary  to  move  the  boundary 
wras  a  large  and  dignified  display  of  armed  force.  The  land  expedi 
tion  was  under  the  command  of  Sir  George  Prevost.  The  brave 
but  unfortunate  George  Downie,  a  fleet-captain,  often  called  com 
modore,  had  been  sent  to  take  command  of  the  fleet.  The  British 
naval  preparations  had  caused  the  Americans  to  work  like  mad  to 
prepare  a  flotilla  to  make  their  naval  strength  fairly  equal  to  that 
of  their  enemy.  Urged  on  by  Prevost,  Downie  hurried  prepara 
tions  and  started  up  the  lake  with  the  Con  fiance  before  she  was 
fully  equipped.  Macdonough  also  had  not  completed  the  work  on 
his  vessels. 

Prevost's  magnificent  regiments  marched  on  Plattsburg,  on  two 
general  lines  of  approach,  one  near  the  shore  and  the  other  a  few 
miles  inland.  The  advance  was  much  like  a  review,  in  solid  column, 


PETER    SAILLY  45 

with  little  regard  to  the  American  scouting  parties  which  fell  back 
before  the  British,  causing  such  annoyance  as  was  possible  on  the 
way.  No  regiments  were  ever  better  drilled  than  those  of  Welling 
ton  ;  and  it  is  related  that  when  at  one  point  the  Americans  brought 
a  field  piece  to  bear  on  the  British  column  and  cut  a  swath  directly 
through  it,  the  vacant  spaces  were  immediately  filled  and  the  column 
moved  on  without  stopping,  sweeping  all  obstacles  from  its  path. 
The  British  progress  was  irresistible  and,  as  the  advance  guards 
approached  Plattsburg,  flight  became  general.  Farmers  were  early 
on  the  way  with  their  families  and  goods  packed  in  carts,  and 
there  was  a  continual  stream  of  "  couriers  "  bringing  news  of  the 
advance.  Duty  as  dispatch  bearer  to  the  rear  was  a  popular  assign 
ment  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  some  of  the  couriers  were 
self-appointed.  At  any  rate  they  made  a  great  stir  in  Plattsburg, 
rattling  into  town  every  few  minutes,  and  nearly  drove  Mrs  David 
son,  who  lived  next  to  Sailly,  to  distraction.  She  was  waiting  for 
Doctor  Davidson  to  return  from  Peru  where  he  had  gone  on  horse 
back  to  look  for  a  refuge.  Sailly  had  sent  his  family  to  Hampton 
in  Washington  county  but  had  remained  behind  himself  in  per 
formance  of  his  duties  as  collector  and  military  storekeeper.  He 
wanted  her,  for  safety,  to  go  with  him  in  a  boat  which  he  had  ready 
and  in  which  he  departed  at  about  sundown,  just  as  the  British  were 
approaching  Dead  Creek  bridge,  about  2  miles  away.  She  insisted 
on  remaining  and  a  few  hours  later  set  out  with  her  husband,  who 
had  returned  in  the  night.  Virtually  the  entire  population  of  the 
village  left  the  place  in  the  face  of  the  enemy's  advance.  A  Quaker 
settlement  in  Peru  became  a  general  rendezvous  for  the  fleeing 
inhabitants  and  many  lingered  there  until  they  heard  the  result  of 
the  naval  battle  on  the  nth  of  September. 

The  British  poured  into  Plattsburg  from  the  northwest  past 
Halsey's  Corners,  later  bringing  artillery  by  the  lake  shore  road, 
and  occupied  all  of  the  town  to  the  north  and  west  of  the  river  on 
the  6th  of  September.  On  the  south  and  east  side  of  the  river  was 
the  armed  camp  of  the  Americans  with  numerous  batteries  and 
redoubts.  General  Macomb  was  a  real  soldier  and  worked  day  and 
night  to  prepare  the  fortifications.  He  put  details  of  soldiers  at 
work  on  the  earthworks,  stating  that  those  who  built  a  redoubt 
should  defend  it.  This  made  them  work  the  more  effectively. 
When  he  finally  took  his  stand,  he  declared  his  intention  to  hold 
the  works  or  die  in  their  defence;  he  said  his  purpose  was  to  hold 
the  position  or  blow  it  up  with  all  its  military  stores.  All  his  officers 


46  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

and  men  stood  by  him,  though  he  offered  the  privilege  of  with 
drawing  to  any  who  might  choose  to  accept. 

After  arrival  at  Plattsburg,  Prevost  continued  to  harry  Downie, 
sending  couriers  to  him  constantly,  until  finally  Downie  was  driven 
into  action  with  his  flagship  still  unready,  but  with  an  agreement 
on  Prevost's  part  to  start  the  land  battle  on  a  grand  scale  as  soon 
as  the  fleet  was  in  position.  Macdonough's  preparations  were  also 
incomplete.  For  several  days  the  British  assaulted  the  American 
land  positions  and  tried  the  bridges  and  fords  in  vain.  Breaking 
across  at  one  point,  they  were  soon  driven  back.  As  showing  the 
high  state  of  discipline  of  the  British  regiments,  it  is  related  that 
a  detachment  of  British  marching  to  the  upper  bridge  found  the 
planks  torn  up  and  only  stringers  left,  upon  which,  no  order  to  halt 
being  given,  the  men  marched,  and  from  which  they  were  dropped 
into  the  water  by  American  marksmen  concealed  in  the  woods  on 
the  farther  side.  For  several  days  both  sides  battered  each  other 
with  the  cumbersome  cannon  of  that  time.  A  battery  was  placed  on 
an  elevation  back  of  Sailly's  house  and  for  days  it  hammered  away 
at  a  stone  building  on  the  other  side;  this  building  suffered  so  little 
that  it  stood  as  a  useful  structure  for  many  years  afterward. 

Prevost's  calculations  went  astray  in  two  particulars  —  in  the 
presence  of  Macdonough  and  that  of  Macomb  with  their  own  for 
tunes  and  those  of  the  country  at  stake.  When  Downie  rounded 
Cumberland  Head,  he  and  his  officers  were  disconcerted  by  not 
hearing  the  thunder  of  Prevost's  guns  in  general  assault.  Downie 
was  killed  and  the  battle  lost  before  Prevost's  eyes  and  to  the 
latter's  great  astonishment.  Prevost  had  depended  on  water  supre 
macy  to  support  his  advance  and,  if  he  could  have  divided  Macomb's 
attention  and  fire  with  the  British  ships  after  the  latter  had  defeated 
Macdonough,  he  certainly  would  have  driven  the  Americans  back 
and  probably  have  captured  their  supplies  and  many  of  their  troops. 
Even  with  the  loss  of  his  ships  there  was  no  impregnable  barrier 
for  such  a  powerful  force  as  Prevost  commanded  on  land.  But 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  battle  Prevost  hurriedly  abandoned  a  well- 
fortified  position  and  a  town  which  could  in  a  few  days  have  been 
made  thoroughly  British.  The  surrounding  territory  would  not  have 
chafed  exceedingly  at  being  bound  to  the  open  and  favorable 
markets  of  Canada.  A  redoubt  at  Cumberland  Head  with  one  on 
the  Grand  Isle  shore,  and  a  force  at  Plattsburg  overrunning  the 
country,  would  have  thoroughly  blocked  the  northern  part  of  the 
lake  to  the  Americans  and  have  moved  the  boundary  as  far  south  as 
Plattsburg  and  perhaps  much  farther. 


PETER    SAILLY  47 

Prevost's  decision,  after  the  result  of  the  battle  was  known,  was 
made  so  quickly  as  to  indicate  that  he  planned  in  advance  of  the 
engagement  what  he  would  do  in  the  contingency.  He  left  with 
a  light  escort  early  in  the  afternoon.  The  advance  guard  was  in 
motion  soon  afterward  and  by  daybreak  of  the  I2th  the  rearguard 
was  on  its  way.  The  inhabitants  began  to  return  immediately. 
Sailly  came  back  at  once,  bringing  his  books  and  papers,  set  the 
custom  house  in  operation  again  and  helped  his  neighbors  reestab 
lish  the  civil  authority. 

It  was  after  he  had  returned  to  his  dismantled  home,  when  he 
was  walking  in  the  woods  back  of  his  house,  that  he  is  said  to  have 
discovered  the  family  clock,  of  the  grandfather  variety,  where  it 
had  been  left  by  marauders.  As  the  story  is  told  he  heard  the  clock 
striking,  as  though  to  make  its  whereabouts  known,  the  sounding 
apparatus  probably  having  been  set  in  operation  by  disturbance 
of  the  underbrush. 

VIII 
THE  ZEALOUS  AND  DISCRIMINATING  OFFICIAL 

In  a  letter  written  by  Sailly  to  Major  Bleecker,  deputy  quarter 
master  general,  the  date  of  which  has  not  been  preserved,  but  evi 
dently  written  immediately  after  the  battle,  is  information  showing 
the  disordered  state  of  the  supplies  due  to  quantities  of  goods  and 
material  having  been  used  to  strengthen  the  redoubts  while  hostili 
ties  were  in  progress  at  Plattsburg  (appendix  XV).  Shortly  after, 
another  letter  on  the  same  subject  was  written  to  Colonel  Jenkins, 
the  quartermaster  general  (appendix  XVI).  On  October  2Oth  the 
distressing  information  was  communicated  to  General  Macomb  by 
Store-keeper  Sailly  that  the  supply  of  whiskey  would  not  last  more 
than  thirty-five  days,  and  at  the  same  time  some  good  advice  wvas 
given  to  the  general  in  command  as  to  the  economical  use  and  pro 
curement  of  supplies  (appendix  XVII).  On  October  25,  1814,  the 
customs  side  of  the  situation  received  attention  in  a  suggestion  as  to 
military  assistance  in  law  enforcement  and  the  collector  took  shrewd 
advantage  of  General  Macomb's  elevation  to  the  rank  of  major 
general  to  insist  on  an  appraisement  as  to  destruction  of  fences  of 
inhabitants.  It  is  fair  to  assume  that  so  gallant  an  officer  promptly 
acceded  to  the  wish  of  so  witty  an  official  (appendix  XVIII). 

After  the  battle  of  Plattsburg  there  was  a  great  and  increasing 
importation  of  cattle  into  Canada.  They  were  taken  from  the  Black 
river  district  and  came  across  Lake  Champlain  from  Vermont,  some 
also  going  direct  from  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire.  The  British 


48  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

contractors  were  paying  from  10  to  12  dollars  a  hundredweight  for 
beef.  Provisions  and  forage  were  also  going  across  the  line  and 
the  collector  was  powerless  to  stop  the  exportation.  The  smugglers 
were  very  bold  and  successful  and  the  customs  officers  were  not  pro 
tected  by  adequate  laws.  Sailly  told  the  Government  that  he  could 
not  stop  the  flood  of  goods  under  the  laws  as  they  stood. 

On  one  occasion  a  row  boat  was  pursued  through  Lake  Cham- 
plain  and  its  cargo  of  about  $8000  worth  of  merchandise  was 
located  in  a  store  at  Whitehall  and  seized.  The  owners,  aided  by 
armed  citizens  of  Whitehall,  retook  the  goods,  and  in  the  affray 
two  of  the  revenue  men  were  seriously  injured.  Naval  officers 
guarding  the  British  war  vessels,  captured  in  September  and  lying 
at  Whitehall,  stood  by  and  saw  this  outrage  perpetrated  without 
protest,  on  the  plea  that  their  power  did  not  extend  to  the  land.  One 
of  the  naval  officers  struck  the  customs  inspector  over  the  head  with 
a  musket  and,  as  reported  by  Collector  Sailly,  "  with  all  the  ener 
getic  swearing  of  a  sailor  damned  revenue  boats  and  revenue  men 
and  wished  the  smugglers  would  destroy  them  all." 

The  situation  was  made  worse  by  uncertainties  in  decisions  as  to 
powers  of  customs  officers,  and  altogether  the  devil  seemed  in  a 
fair  way  to  get  away  with  the  exciseman.  Soon  after  the  war,  how 
ever,  many  of  the  restrictions  on  trade  with  Canada  were  removed 
and  conditions  improved  somewhat ;  but  the  duties  on  imports  were 
still  sufficiently  high  to  stimulate  contraband  trade.  Commerce  was 
active  on  Lake  Champlain  and  from  ten  to  twenty  vessels  arrived 
at  Plattsburg  daily. 

There  is  no  hint  of  official  criticism  by  the  treasury  department 
of  any  of  Sailly's  acts  except  once,  in  1815,  when  Thomas  Schief 
felin  of  New  York  was  importing  tea  received  in  Montreal  from 
England.  Sailly  claimed  a  60  cent  a  pound  duty,  while  Schieffelin 
claimed  as  a  direct  importation  at  48  cents,  and  asked  Sailly  to 
request  for  him  a  remission  of  the  12  cents  difference.  The  acting 
comptroller  of  the  treasury  complained  in  a  letter  to  Sailly,  saying: 
"  It  is  astonishing  to  me  how  much  by  your  late  letters  you  seem  to 
lean  in  favor  of  the  Canadian  merchants."  This  brought'  a  rejoin 
der  of  a  very  emphatic  nature,  a  letter  in  which  the  collector  said : 
"  Sir,  this  is  the  first  time  I  have  been  reproached  with  being  under 
the  influence  of  an  improper  bias.  I  lean  only  in  favor  of  the 
public  interests  and  the  conclusion  you  draw  from  the  tenor  of  my 
letters  is  incorrect.  Notwithstanding  the  offensive  expression  you 
have  thought  fit  to  use  in  writing  to  me,  my  official  conduct  is  the 


PETER    SAILLY 


49 


same  now  as  that  which  has  obtained^  heretofore,  the  approbation 
of  preceding  officers  of  your  department.  It  would  be  '  astonish 
ing  '  to  the  public  on  this  lake  and  to  the  merchants  in  Montreal  to 
hear  that  I  am  censured  by  the  officers  of  the  treasury  department 
for  leaning  improperly  any  way.  They  are,  I  flatter  myself,  under 
a  very  different  impression."  The  acting  comptroller  does  not 
appear  to  have  pursued  the  subject. 

Sailly  was  so  rigid  in  the  enforcement  of  the  law  that  even  his 
own  subordinates  felt  his  strictness  and  merchants  imported  through 
other  districts  where  officials  were  more  pliant.  Along  the  line  in 
Canada  were  stores  where  British  goods  were  on  sale  much  cheaper 
than  in  the  United  States.  In  Vermont  the  customs  officers  were 
allowed  to  purchase  in  these  stores  necessaries  for  their  own  use. 
This  practice  Sailly  refused  to  sanction  in  the  Champlain  district. 

Another  instance  of  Sailly's  strictness  was  regarding  importations 
under  the  claim  that  goods  were  the  property  of  neutrals  residing 
in  the  United  States.  Sailly  required  strict  proof,  as  there  was  a 
chance  for  evasion  of  duties  under  this  claim.  So  merchants  sys 
tematically  avoided  the  Champlain  district  with  this  class  of  entries 
and  entered  such  goods  where  greater  laxity  prevailed. 

The  winter  of  1816-17  was  one  of  great  distress  on  account  of 
failure  of  crops.  The  summer  of  1816  was  phenomenally  cold  in  its 
early  part  and  drouth  followed,  no  appreciable  rain  falling  until  the 
loth  of  October.  At  the  same  time  money  was  scarcer  in  Clinton 
county  than  it  had  been  for  twenty-five  years.  In  the  southeastern 
part  of  lower  Canada  the  wheat  crop  was  good  and  a  bushel  of 
their  wheat,  larger  than  ours,  was  sold  at  $2.  People  went  in  from 
the  Champlain  district  and  brought  out  wheat  on  which  Sailly 
wished  to  exact  no  duty  on  account  of  the  general  need.  In  Jan 
uary  1817,  he  wrote  to  the  treasury  department:  "Under  the  par 
ticularly  distressed  condition  of  the  country,  I  have  not  noticed 
these  importations  and  have  taken  no  duty  on  the  wheat.  I  have 
acted  from  motives  and  feelings  to  which,  no  doubt,  you  are  no 
stranger.  If  I  have  done  wrong,  you  will  let  me  know  it  by  return 
of  mail,  but  if  the  state  of  things  I  have  endeavored  to  describe 
justified,  in  some  measure,  that  deviation  from  the  law,  I  shall 
expect  no  answer."  But  the  treasury  department  was  inexorable 
and  required  the  payment  of  the  duties. 

When  nonintercourse  came  into  effect,  the  supply  of  Canadian 
salt  was  cut  off.  The  price  was  $2.50  a  hundredweight  one  winter, 
double  the  usual  value,  and  it  was  introduced  into  Vermont  where 


50  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

the  customs  were  enforced  with  greater  laxity  and  thence  into 
Clinton  and  Essex  counties.  Sailly  wrote  the  treasury  department : 
"  Salt  is  not  to  be  got  fairly  here,  but  from  the  seaport,  at  an 
immense  expense.  Perhaps  it  would  not  be  amiss  to  be  not  too 
scrutinizing  when  it  reaches  us  from  the  state  of  Vermont.  It  is  a 
delicate  question.  It  would  be  improper  to  ask  your  opinion  upon 
it  —  but  salt  is  an  indispensible  article  and  the  nonintercourse  may 
last  long."  No  notice  being  taken  of  this,  the  collector  failed  to 
scrutinize  too  closely. 

On  one  occasion,  a  new  inspector  reported  with  some  pride  the 
seizure  of  an  unimportant  article  which  a  farmer  had  unintention 
ally  failed  to  declare.  The  benevolent  collector  replied,  as  is  related : 
;<  You  did  very  right.  If  I  had  seen  the  little  parcel  I  would  have 
done  as  you  did,  but  my  eyes  are  growing  old  and  I  fear  I  could 
not  have  seen  so  small  a  thing." 

When  Sailly  first  entered  on  the  duties  of  his  office,  Canadians 
used  to  bring  their  grists  to  the  New  York4  millers  and  to  take  back 
their  flour  without  the  payment  of  duty.  Writing  for  instructions 
and  receiving  none,  he  let  the  practice  continue  until  increasing  busi 
ness  induced  him  to  exact  duty  on  the  tolls  taken  by  the  millers. 
Some  of  the  millers  became  dissatisfied  and  complained  to  the 
department  stating  that  duty  was  paid  on  all  the  grain  and  on  the 
tolls  besides.  The  treasury  department  ordered  that  the  .Canadian 
farmers  be  required  to  pay  duty  on  all  the  grain  brought  over.  The 
millers  had  misrepresented  the  collector's  conduct  in  the  matter, 
but  he  argued  the  department  into  withdrawing  the  instructions. 

The  line  store  was  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  of  Collector  Sailly.  Some 
times  the  line  passed  through  the  store  and  sometimes  there  were 
two  stores,  one  on  each  side  of  the  boundary,  operating  together; 
sometimes  also  the  store  was  situated  in  Canada  close  to  the  line. 
Sailly  had  an  extended  series  of  battles  with  these  contraband 
dealers  and  in  the  long  run  usually  came  off  victorious. 

The  steamboats  on  Lake  Champlain  were  another  vexation  to  Col 
lector  Sailly.  The  first  boat  on  the  lake  began  running  in  1809.  Dur 
ing  the  war,  the  idea  had  evidently  occurred  to  Collector  Sailly  and 
Commodore  Macdoruough  of  mounting  cannon  on  a  steamer  and 
then  going  around  the  lake  killing  off  the  British  wind-jammers. 
But  the  steamboat  of  that  day  was  left  for  peaceful  commercial 
duties  and  apparently  for  the  promotion  of  smuggling  as  well; 
although  Governor  Tompkins,  probably  at  the  instance  of  Sailly 
and  Macdonough,  in  March  1814,  urged  the  arming  of  a  steamboat 


PETER    SAILLY  51 

then  building  at  Vergennes  (Military  Papers  of  Tompkins,  3:  457).  ' 
In  1812-13  steam  transportation  had  been  used  for  the  moving  of 
troops  and  military  supplies.  If  this  vessel  at  Vergennes  had  been 
armed,  the  invasion  of  Prevost  might  never  have  taken  place  and 
she  would  have  antedated  by  several  months  the  first  steam  frigate, 
the  Demologos,  designed  by  Fulton,  which  was  launched  at  New 
York  in  October  1814. 

The  steamboats  running  to  and  from  St  Johns  had  every  facility 
for  contraband  trade  and  evidently  improved  every  opportunity. 
Sailly  was  strict,  and  early  incurred  the  enmity  of  their  managers, 
whose  energies  were  consequently  often  directed  to  attempts  to 
secure  his  removal  from  office.  Once  Sailly's  inspectors  were 
driven  from  the  boat,  but  a  personal  visit  from  the  Collector  him 
self  as  well  as  a  threat  to  stop  the  boat  at  Cumberland  Head  on 
every  trip  and  make  a  personal  inspection  himself  prevented  further 
open  opposition.  The  steamboat  people  procured  the  passage  of  a 
law  permitting  them  to  clear  and  enter  their  boats  either  in  the 
Champlain  or  the  Vermont  district ;  after  that  entries  and  clearances 
were  made  in  Vermont,  where  the  regulations  and  the  administra 
tion  of  the  law  were  too  lax  to  protect  the  Government.  In  1819, 
the  treasury  department  awoke  to  a  realization  of  how  the  Govern 
ment  was  being  defrauded  on  the  boats  and,  by  concert  between  the 
two  collectors,  regulations  were  framed  to  prevent  the  system  of 
smuggling  which  was  being  carried  on.  It  was  in  1819  that  the 
steamboat  manager  charged  Sailly  with  misconduct  in  connection 
with  Astor's  furs,  before  referred  to,  which  charge  was  immediately 
dissipated  by  Astor  himself. 

In  1820  a  law  was  passed  fixing  the  term  of  office  of  collectors  at 
four  years  and  making  all  their  terms  expire,  beginning  with  the  end 
of  the  current  year.  Sailly  was  reappointed  in  1821  and  again  in 
1825. 

In  1824  business  in  the  northern  customs  districts  fell  off  greatly. 
Sailly  attributed  the  decrease  in  his  district  to  higher  duties  under 
the  new  tariff  and  to  the  opening  of  the  Champlain  canal. 

IX 

CHARACTER   AND   CHARACTERISTICS 

Sailly  was  deemed  to  be  rather  stern  in  mien  and  manner,  as 

may  be  gathered  from  an  instance  that  has  been  handed  down.     A 

little  girl,  who  was  later  married  to  a  grandson  of  Sailly,  used  to 

pass  his  house  on  her  way  to  school,  but  in  fear  and  trembling  at 


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what  she  considered  his  fierce  visage;  while  he  made  the  matter 
worse,  when  he  happened  to  be  out  in  advance  of  her,  by  speaking 
to  her  in  a  manner  intended  to  be  friendly.  He  was  really  of  a  very 
kind  and  benevolent  disposition. 

Sailly  was  a  firm  opponent  of  the  extension  of  slavery  and  in  1820 
he  said,  in  a  letter  to  Congressman  Ezra  C.  Gross:  "I  thank  you 
for  the  pamphlet  you  have  had  the  politeness  to  send  me.  Your 
speech  on  the  Missouri  question  does  honor  to  your  head  and  heart 
and  although  slavery  is  to  be  admitted  into  that  new  state  contrary 
to  and  in  contempt  of  every  republican  principle,  yet  we  have  the 
satisfaction  to  know  that  yourself  and  almost  every  representative 
of  this  State  have  done  their  duty  in  opposing  that  wicked  measure." 
In  1790,  out  of  21,324  slaves  in  New  York  State,  it  is  said  that  17 
resided  in  Clinton  county;  in  1800  the  number  in  the  county  had 
increased  to  58  and  then  gradually  decreased,  until  in  1810  there 
were  29.  In  1808  Sailly  manumitted  a  female  slave,  called  Dean, 
and  her  three  children,  Francis,  Abel  and  Caty. 

Although  reared  a  Roman  Catholic  he  failed  to  set  great  store  by 
ecclesiastical  forms  and  he  was  by  no  means  a  churchman.  How 
ever,  he  never  attached  himself  seriously  to  any  other  church.  He 
contributed  liberally  to  the  building  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in 
Plattsburg  and  owned  a  pew  in  it. 

He  was  a  strict  Sabbatarian  and  reproved  desecration  of  the  day. 
The  following  story  is  related:  One  fine  'Sunday  morning  the  sal 
mon  were  observed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saranac  and  John  Louis 
Fouquet,  a  friend  and  countryman  of  Sailly,  called  his  boatman 
and  embarked,  rowing  toward  the  lower  island  in  the  mouth  of  the 
river  and  paying  out  his  seine.  Sailly,  who  had  noticed  the  coordi 
nation  in  the  movements  of  the  salmon  and  his  friend's  boat,  walked 
rapidly  down  the  bank  and  stopping  opposite  called  out,  "  Louis, 
Louis,  je  suis  etonne !  Ne  savez  vous  pas  que  c'est  dimanche?" 
Fouquet  gathered  in  his  net  and  returned  to  land  without  the 
salmon. 

Another  incident,  handed  down  by  word  of  mouth  for  nearly  a 
century,  shows  his  family  pride  in  his  little  grandson,  Peter  Sailly 
Palmer.  They  had  egg  rollings  at  the  Sailly  home,  at  Easter, 
apparently  rolling  the  eggs  down  a  board  into  sand  or  sawdust. 
Grandfather  Sailly  put  a  coin  in  the  soft  material  and  little  Peter, 
finding  it,  faithfully  brought  it  to  his  grandsire,  who  could  not  for 
bear  patting  the  lad  and  calling  attention  to  his  early  probity. 

Sailly  remained  in  harness  to  the  very  end  and  his  last  illness 
was  very  short,  scarcely  more  than  a  few  hours  intervening  between 


PETER    SAILLY  53 

the  regular  discharge  of  his  official  duties  and  his  death.  His 
funeral  was  that  of  an  honored  public  character  and  the  time  of 
its  occurrence  \vas  observed  by  the  merchants  of  the  place.  In  the 
village  paper  'was  printed  a  notice  that  the  hour  of  the  funeral 
would  be  observed  publicly  and  in  a  yellowed  copy  of  this  paper 
which  survives  is  a  written  notation  that  this  was  done,  apparently 
made  at  the  time.  He  died  March  16,  1826  and  his  remains  were 
interred  in  Riverside  Cemetery,  Plattsburg,  his  grave  being  marked 
by  a  simple  stone,  the  inscription  on  which  is  given  at  the  end  of 
the  appendix  (XXI). 

An  able  characterization  based  on  direct  personal  contact  with 
Sailly  survives  to  us  in  the  form  of  a  letter  from  Reuben  H.  Wai- 
worth,  the  chancellor,  who  was  his  intimate,  personal,  business  and 
political  friend,  and  who,  in  1866,  wrote  a  letter  to  Judge  Palmer, 
which  is  found  in  appendix  XX.  Chancellor  Walworth  describes 
him  as  intelligent,  well  educated  and  strong  minded,  of  unquestion 
able  courage,  of  stern,  unbending  integrity,  a  polished  gentleman, 
a  good  neighbor,  a  faithful  friend  and  one  almost  idolized  by  his 
family  and  relatives. 


APPENDIXES  I-XXI 


PETER    SAILLY 
I 

A  passport  of  Peter  Sailly 
De  par  Le  Roy 

A  tous  Gouverneurs  et  nos  Lieutenans 

Generaux  en  nos  Provinces  et  Armees,  Gouverneurs 

particuliers  et  Commandans  de  nos  Villes,  Places 

et  Troupes,  et  a  tous  autres  nos  Officiers,  Justiciers  et 

Sujets  qu'il  appartiendra.     Salut.     Nous  voulons  et 

vous  mandons  tres  expressement  que  vous  ayiez  a  laisser 

librement  passer  le  S.  Pierre  de  Sailly  allant  de  Paris 

dans  I'Amerique  septentrionale 

sans  lui  donner  ou  souffrir  qu'  il  lui  soit  donne  aucun 

empechement ;  le  present  passeport  valuable  pour  trois  mois 

seulement.     Car  tel  est  notre  plaisir. 

Donne  a  Versailles  le  27.  Novembre  1784. 

Louis 
Par  Le  Roy 

De  Vergennes. 
Gratis 


57 


58  NEW  YORK  STATE  LIBRARY 

II 

Diary  of  Peter  Sailly  on  a  Journey  in  America  in  the  Year  1784 

1784,  May  ii. —  I  arrived  at  Philadelphia. 

May  14. —  Left  Philadelphia  to  examine  the  iron  works  near 
Newark;  accompanied  by  the  proprietor. 

May  17. — I  left  Newark  to  visit  Mr  Faesch,  the  proprietor  of  the 
iron  works  at  his  house.  Left  there  on  the  i8th  for  New  York, 
where  I  arrived  the  same  day. 

May  19. —  I  embarked  on  the  Hudson  river  for  Albany,  by  the 
way  of  Poughkeepsie,  with  the  intention  of  exploring  the  interior 
of  the  country. 

May  20. —  We  arrived  within  view  of  West  Point ;  a  large  fort, 
where  the  Americans  had  their  principal  forces  during  the  late 
war.  The  tide  and  the  wind  being  adverse,  we  were  obliged  to 
anchor.  I  profited  by  the  delay  to  examine  this  locality,  celebrated 
both  from  its  position,  which  renders  it  almost  impregnable  and 
from  the  treason  of  General  Arnold.  To  reach  the  first  fort  on 
the  south,  I  ascended,  with  great  labor,  a  mountain  and  some  very 
large  rocks.  I  found  the  mountain  covered  with  walnut  trees,  and 
fragrant  with  roses,  aromatic  herbs  and  wild  vines  in  blossom. 
I  had  scarcely  reached  the  summit,  and  was  within  fifty  paces  of 
the  fort,  when  the  captain  made  the  signal  to  leave,  which  obliged 
me  to  descend  the  mountain  in  haste  and  not  without  danger.  In 
ascending,  as  we  passed  around  the  forts  and  redoubts  I  counted 
ten  terre-pleins  upon  the  heights,  where  the  sides  are  nearly  imprac 
ticable.  The  Hudson  river,  a  magnificent  stream, 'runs  through  a 
deep  channel  between  two  chains  of  high  mountains.  The  moun 
tains  are  not  cultivated  and  can  not  be. 

May  20. —  I  landed  at  Poughkeepsie,  where  I  expected  to  find 
Mr  Dezong,  a  gentleman  I  had  seen  in  New  York,  and  who  intended 
to  be  my  traveling  companion. 

May  21. —  This  day  at  Poughkeepsie,  a  small  and  pleasant  village, 
but  the  environs  of  which  are  not  very  pleasing,  with  the  exception 
of  the  country  seat  of  Mr  Livingston,  which  is  upon  the  borders 
of  the  river,  in  a  most  charming  location.  I  forgot  to  notice,  that 
I  passed  in  sight  of  two  villages  between  West  Point  and  Pough 
keepsie,  called  New  Windsor  and  Newburgh;  but  they  did  not 
equal  the  smallest  villages  in  France. 


PETER    SAILLY  59 

May  22. —  I  left  Poughkeepsie  for  Albany  in  company  with  Mr 
Dezong  on  horseback.1  The  country  between  these  two  places  is 
fine  and  well  cultivated.  We  passed  three  small  villages.  The 
roads  were  very  good. 

May  23. —  Arrived  at  Albany  which  is  84  miles  from  Poughkeep 
sie  and  1 68  miles,  or  56  French  leagues  from  New  York.  Here  the 
valley  enlarges  and  presents  a  charming  appearance.  Albany,  sit 
uate  upon  the  North  or  Hudson  river,  is  a  flourishing  village,  very 
advantageously  located,  particularly  for  the  fur  trade  with  the 
Indians. 

May  24. —  This  day  at  Albany,  where  I  had  several  letters  of 
introduction  to  deliver. 

May  25. —  Left  Albany  for  Schenectady,  by  the  way  of  the  falls 
of  the  Mohawk.  These  falls  are  sixty  feet  high,  and  present  a  most 
magnificent  appearance.  Schenectady  is  eighteen  miles  from 
Albany.  It  is  a  pleasant  village  with  fine  houses  upon  the  banks 
of  the  Mohawk  river.  It  numbers  about  450  inhabitants.  The 
country  is  beautiful  along  the  Mohawk  from  a  point  six  miles  above 
the  falls  to  Schenectady. 

May  26. —  Left  Schenectady  for  Johnstown,  about  twenty-four 
miles  distant,  and  five  miles  from  the  Mohawk  river.  The  country 
between  these  twro  villages  is  indifferently  good.  The  borders  of 
the  Mohawk  are  contracted  by  the  surrounding  hills.  Johnstown 
contains  sixteen  dwellings,  a  church,  court  house  and  jail.  The 
house  of  'General  Johnson  is  one-fourth  of  a  mile  from  the  village. 
All  his  property  has  been  confiscated  by  the  state ;  against  which  he 
took  part  in  the  late  war.  The  commissioners  wrere  at  Johnstown 
to  take  legal  proceedings  concerning  his  property,  consisting  in  this 
section,  of  about  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land  and  forests.  The 
soil  is  good  about  this  place.  Johnstown  is  situated  upon  a  small 
stream  which  turns  several  mills,  and  upon  which  forges  could  be 
built.  There  are  but  few  fish  in  the  river  and  game  is  not  abundant. 

May  27,  Sunday. —  We  took  a  walk  seven  or  eight  miles  in  the 
woods,  north  of  the  village.  We  saw  fine  oaks  and  pines  from 
three  and  one-half  to  four  feet  in  diameter  and  sugar  maples  two 
and  one-half  feet. 

May  28. —  I  went  about  twelve  miles  from  Johnstown,  to  the 
house  of  Madam,  the  widow  Paris,  whose  husband  was  killed  by 


'In  the  time-worn  and  yellowed  original  journal  of  William  Gilliland, 
one  of  the  most  romantic  and  spirited  of  all  the  early  pioneers  in  America, 
is  an  entry  under  the  year  1784,  as  follows :  "  Monsr.  Sailly  from  France, 
Frederick  Augusts,  de  "Zeng,  at  Poughkeepsie." 


60  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

the  English  at  the  commencement  of  the  late  war.1  He  was  their 
terror.  This  brave  man  was  Colonel  of  Militia,  originally  from 
TOrient,  France,  I  believe.  He  has  a  brother  in  Philadelphia  with 
whom  I  am  acquainted ;  and  had  also  many  friends  in  Nantes.  His 
widow  has  a  mill  in  good  condition,  but  it  lacks  water.  She  manu 
factures  potash.  Near  her  residence  we  passed  through  a  section 
of  country  called  "  Stone  Arabia."  It  is  orte  of  the  finest  sections 
I  have  seen  in  America.  The  cultivated  land  is  about  eight  miles 
in  length  by  two  miles  in  width  and  lies  upon  an  elevated  plain 
along  the  immense  forests  which  border  upon  the  Mohawk.  The 
soil  is  fertile  and  the  inhabitants  will  be  prosperous  if  they  do  not 
again  undergo  the  evils  of  war,  from  which  they  have  suffered  by 
the  loss  of  their  houses  and  cattle,  stolen  and  burned  by  the  Indians. 
They  have  since  then  built  a  small  fort  into  which  they  can  retreat 
in  case  of  any  new  incursion,  if  peace  does  not  render  the  tardy  pre 
caution  unnecessary. 

May  29. —  Colonel  Melcher,  Captain  Dezong  and  myself  left 
Johnstown  with  the  intention  of  visiting  Fort  Stanwix  and  the 
Indians  of  Lake  Oneida.  We  purpose  to  sleep  at  German  Flats,  a 
section  celebrated  in  North  America  for  its  beauty  and  the  rich 
ness  of  its  soil.  The  valley  here  expands  and  forms  a  beautiful 
plain,  which  the  Mohawk  river  divides  in  the  center.  A  fine  stream 
called  Canada  creek,  traverses  a  portion  of  the  German  Flats  and 
joins  its  waters  with  the  Mohawk.  The  inhabitants  have  suffered 
more  from  the  late  war  than  in  other  sections,  as  their  neighbors, 
the  Indians,  have  treated  them  with  greater  severity,  having  burned 
their  houses,  stolen  their  cattle  and  brought  other  misfortunes  upon 
them.  It  would  seem  that  Nature  itself  were  in  league  with  the 
enemy  to  desolate  the  country,  for  the  land,  naturally  fertile,  has 
been  unproductive  the  present  year.  The  most  beautiful  country 
in  the  world  now  presents  only  the  poor  cabins  of  an  impoverished 
population  who  are  nearly  without  food  and  upon  the  verge  of 
starvation.  The  German  Flats  are  about  forty  miles  from  Johns 
town. 

May  31. — We  continued  our  route  toward  Fort  Stanwix.  Our 
progress  being  retarded  by  several  events  of  little  interest,  we  were 
obliged  to  sleep  in  a  small  Indian  village,  composed  of  four  or  five 


1  Note  made  by  Peter  Sailly  Palmer:  Probably  Col.  Isaac  Paris  who  was  a 
firm  and  zealous  patriot.  As  chairman  of  the  Tryon  county  committee  of 
safety  he  had  rendered  himself  obnoxious  to  the  Tories  residing  in  the 
Mohawk  valley.  He  was  murdered  by  some  of  St  Leger's  Indians  about 
the  time  of  the  battle  of  Oriskany,  in  1777. 


PETER    SAILLY  Cl 

cabins,  and  containing  between  twenty-five  and  thirty  inhabitants. 
These  Indians  dwell  upon  the  borders  of  the  Orisque,  a  branch  of 
the  Mohawk.  We  were  received  with  a  cordiality  we  have  not  found 
in  any  other  part  of  America,  and  which  is  not  always  found  in 
France.  They  gave  us  salmon,  which  they  catch  in  Oneida  lake, 
twenty-four  miles  higher  up,  where  the  main  body  of  the  tribe 
resides.  This  little  tribe,  which  forms  the  main  part  of  the  Onon- 
tagues,  one  of  the  Six  Nations  of  Iroquois,  numbers  about  two  hun 
dred  families.  They  were  the  friends  of  the  United  States  in  the 
late  war.  The  savages  gave  up  to  us  their  beds,  which  are  made 
of  a  blanket  spread  upon  a  bedstead  eighteen  inches  high.  The 
couch  is  of  the  bark  of  trees.  These  Indians  show  nothing  of  the 
savage  except  in  dress.  Many  of  them  conversed  in  English  with 
my  companions,  with  as  much  spirit  and  ease  as  we  could  our 
selves  assume.  I  found  them  much  more  polite  than  the  peasants 
of  France,  who  are  the  most  civilized  and  polished  of  that  class  in 
Europe.  We  saw  several  fine  and  very  tall  men;  one  young  man 
of  twenty-two  years,  who  was  tall  and  well  proportioned,  with  a 
most  martial  figure  and  address.  Few  men  in  Europe  are  by  nature 
as  noble  in  appearance  (aussi  distingues  de  la  nature).  The 
females  are  inferior;  rendered  so  by  labor,  harsh  treatment  and 
their  unbecoming  dress. 

Upon  the  borders  of  the  Orisque  General  Herkimer  gained  a 
battle  over  the  English  and  their  Indian  allies,  commanded'  by 
M.  de  St  Leger,  a  man  of  French  parentage  but  born  in  Ireland. 
This  engagement  took  place  in  the  woods,  while  General  Herkimer 
was  on  his  way  to  relieve  Fort  Schuyler,  then  besieged  by  the 
English.  About  four  miles  beiore  reaching  the  Indian  village  we 
saw  Fort  Schuyler,  which  is  no  more  than  a  rampart  of  earth, 
now  overgrown  with  thorns  and  bushes. 

July  i. —  Prepared  to  continue  our  journey,  but  the  horse  of  Mr 
Dezong  becoming  lame  we  returned  to  sleep  at  German  Flats. 
Col.  Melcher  continued  on.  The  whole  country  on  both  sides  of 
the  Mohawk  is  very  fine.  •  The  lands  are  excellent.  About  five 
miles  above  German  Flats  are  immense  forests  of  primitive  growth. 
The  ground  is  covered  with  old  and  decayed  trees  which  render 
the  roads  difficult.  The  mosquitoes  are  extremely  troublesome. 
This  section  must  sometimes  become  the  most  beautiful  and 
richest  in  America.  It  contains  a  fertile  soil,  rich  meadows  and 
a  great  number  of  lakes  and  rivers  filled  with  fish. 

July  3. —  We  stafted  to  visit  Lake  Schuyler  and  several  other 
small  lakes  in  its  vicinity.  We  passed  through  a  forest  twenty-four 


62  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

miles  in  length  from  German  Flats  over  a  road  blocked  up,  at 
every  step,  by  fallen  trees.  At  the  lake  we  found  the  land  to  be  of 
very  inferior  quality,  if  we  except  the  bottom  lands,  but  these  latter 
are  exposed  to  annual  inundations  during  the  rainy  season.  Lake 
Schuyler  is  six  miles  long,  in  some  places  two  miles  wide  and  in 
others  less  than  one  mile.  We  passed  over  it  in  a  canoe,  as  far  as 
its  outlet,  which  forms  part  of  the  Susquehanna  river,  sixteen  miles 
below.  We  caught  many  fine  fish  in  the  lake  with  lines,  with 
which  we  were  provided.  On  our  arrival  we  let  loose  our  horses 
on  the  banks  of  the  lake,  but  the  next  day,  Sunday,  mine  could  not 
be  found.  I  think  it  was  stolen  by  some  hunters  who  were  near 
the  lake.  The  lake  is  full  of  fish  and  two  streams  of  considerable 
size  enter  into  it,  but  the  land  is  so  level  near  the  lake  that  it  is 
not  possible  to  construct  mills.  A  small  piece  of  elevated  land 
which  we  saw  at  the  head  of  the  lake,  where  there  is  an  old  house 
inhabited  and  several  acres  fit  for  cultivation,  presents  a  favorable 
place  for  building  a  mill.  There  is  not  much  current,  yet,  by 
making  a  dam  to  retain  the  waters  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
paces  higher  up,  a  mill  could  be  turned  twelve  hours  during  the 
twenty-four  and  the  dam  would  cause  no  further  expense. 

This  is  the  most  favorable  section  in  the -world  for  fishing  and 
the  chase.  We  found  in  the  lake  large  quantities  of  pike  and  perch, 
and  at  certain  season  salmon  are  caught.  Deer,  bears  and  beaver 
abound  in  the  forest  bordering  on  the  lake,  and  in  the  surrounding 
country  are  to  be  found  partridges,  hares  and  pigeons  in  great 
numbers. 

On  Monday  the  fifth  we  started  on  our  return  to  German  Flats, 
without  obtaining  any  information  about  my  horse.  We  visited  an 
ancient  Indian  village  while  descending  the  Mohawk.  This  is  a 
fine  section  and  the  lands  are  of  better  quality.  Mills  and  forges 
can  be  built  upon  a  large  stream  which  traverses  the  country  and 
empties  into  the  Mohawk.  We  continued  our  route  for  Johnstown, 
where  were  the  commissioners  of  the  State,  who  propose  to  make  a 
road  to  an  iron  ore  mine  upon  a  mountain  near  the  borders  of  the 
Mohawk.  Certain  points  upon  this  river  present  advantageous  sites 
for  forges.  There  is  but  little  commerce  upon  the  Mohawk.  The 
inhabitants  are  poor  since  the  war.  It  is  nevertheless  a  desirable 
location  as  this  part  of  America  will  soon  be  thickly  peopled.  The 
rich  lands  will  attract  settlers.  A  merchant  here  can  only  sell  in 
exchange  for  grain  and  peltries.  With  both  of  these  he  can  do 
well  in  New  York.  Wheat  can  not  be  sold  as  it  is  received.  It 


PETER    SAILLY  63 

must  be  made  into  flour.  New  York  then  receives  it  for  her  own 
consumption  and  for  shipment  to  the  Islands  [West  Indies].  It 
is  of  great  importance  to  a  merchant  on  the  Mohawk  that  he  own 
a  mill,  some  land,  a  house  and  a  little  stock.  With  these  he  can 
carry  on  a  very  good  business. 

July  /. —  I  returned  to  Fort  Henry,  twenty-four  miles  from 
Johnstown,  upon  the  Mohawk,  to  purchase  some  excellent  lands, 
but  I  could  not  agree  with  the  proprietors  as  to  the  terms. 

July  10. — Arrived  at  Albany. 

July  u,  Sunday. —  I  saw  Mr  Gilliland  who  owns  lands  upon 
Lake  Champlain.  As  the  price  and  terms  of  payment  were  satis 
factory,  and  the  lands  were  represented  to  be  very  good,  I  deter 
mined  to  look  at  them.  Mr  Gilliland  could  not  leave  until  Thurs 
day  the  1 5th,  and  the  same  night  we  slept  at  Saratoga;  a  locality 
celebrated  in  America  from  the  surrender  of  General  Burgoyne 
with  an  army  of  seven  thousand  men  to  the  American  General 
Gates.  We  saw  the  encampments  of  the  two  generals  and  the 
ground  where  two  battles  were  fought  between  them.  Saratoga 
is  twenty-four  miles  from  Albany  and  comprises  a  great  extent  of 
territory,  but  little  cultivated.  General  Schuyler  has  a  large  farm 
upon  the  borders  of  the  North  river.  A  small  and  rapid  stream 
empties  near  his  house  upon  wrhich  he  has  built  several  mills. 
There  are  a  number  of  mills  along  the  borders  of  the  North  river. 
The  land  in  this  section  is  of  poor  quality. 

July  1 6. —  This  evening  we  arrived  at  Fort  Edward  where  we 
slept.  It  is  fifty  miles  from  Albany.  I  visited  the  fort  built  upon 
the  borders  of  the  Hudson  river.  The  ruins  of  the  rampart  and 
ditch  only  remain.  The  rampart  is  built  of  wood  and  is  quite 
high.  The  inclosure  of  the  fort  is  not  extensive.  I  saw  beyond 
the  fort  a  graveyard  where  were  buried  the  officers  and  soldiers 
who  died  of  wounds  received  in  the  attack  upon  Ticonderoga,  on 
Lake  Champlain,  in  1/58,  then  occupied  by  the  French  and  form 
ing  a  part  of  Canada.  At  the  present  day  it  is  within  the  limits 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  with  the  whole  of  Lake  Champlain ;  the 
boundaries  of  the  two  provinces  having  been  changed  at  the  time 
the  English  took  possession  of  Canada.  Fort  Edward  is  situated 
in  a  fine  plain,  but  the  land  is  poor,  as  is  that  which  we  passed  as 
far  north  as  Fort  George,  where  we  arrived  on  the  I7th  at  noon, 
distant  fourteen  miles  from  Fort  Edward.  Fort  George  is  built 
upon  the  borders  of  Lake  St  Sacrament,  called  by  the  English 
Lake  George.  There  we  sent  back  our  wagon,  and  prepared  to 


64  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

embark  as  soon  as  the  wind  was  favorable.  We  visited  Fort 
George,  which  is  yet  in  good  repair.  It  is  built  of  stone  and  is  of 
difficult  approach.  The  English  captured  it  from  the  Americans 
during  the  late  war.  The  garrison  capitulated  and  should  have  been 
conducted  to  Fort  Edward,  but  in  violation  of  their  promises,  and 
to  the  eternal  disgrace  of  the  English,  they  posted  their  troops  upon 
the  passage  the  poor  Americans  were  to  take  and  massacred  them 
all.1  There  is  on  the  borders  of  Lake  George  an  old  fort  of  earth, 
built  by  the  English  and  called  William  Henry.  It  was  taken  by  the 
French  under  General  Montcalm. 

July  1 8,  Sunday. —  I  went  to  the  lake  and  caught  two  fish,  called 
by  the  English  "  black  fish,"  which  were  of  fine  size  and  very  good. 
In  the  afternoon  I  visited  Fort  William  Henry,  but  could  only  see 
the  remains  of  the  old  ramparts  of  earth.  They  were  covered 
with  wild  cherry  trees.  The  cherries,  now  ripe,  are  small  and  red 
and  more  tart  than  the  wild  cherries  of  France.  There  were  here 
a  great  number  of  small  birds  of  different  kinds.  I  discovered  for 
the  first  time  that  some  of  them  resembled  in  every  particular  the 
little  thrush  of  France.  A  little  above  the  fort  is  a  level  place 
where  we  yet  see  the  remains  of  an  entrenched  camp.  There  is  in 
the  center  a  graveyard  where  are  buried  about  one  thousand  officers 
and  soldiers,  victims  of  a  large  battle  which  was  fought  there. 
The  graves  are  covered  with  strawberries  and  wild  roses,  which 
are  here  very  abundant,  notwithstanding  the  poor  quality  of  the 
soil. 

July  19,  Monday. —  We  left  in  a  canoe  at  three  o'clock.  Our. 
progress  was  delayed  by  a  head  wind.  We  slept  in  a  cabin  upon 
the  borders  of  the  lake,  about  twenty-five  miles  from  Fort  George 
and  seven  from  the  lower  end  of  the  lake,  which  is  thirty-one  and 
three-fourths  miles  long.  On  each  side  of  the  lake  are  high  moun 
tains  covered  with  rocks  on  which  were  some  pines,  some  cedars 
and  thickets  of  thorns.  The  soil  is  sterile.  The  water  of  the  lake 
is  very  clear,  and  the  lake  is  well  filled  with  fish.  We  ate  of  them 
during  our  whole  voyage. 

July  20. —  We  landed  and  took  a  wagon  which  brought  us  to 
Ticonderoga  on  Lake  Champlain  which  we  visited.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  famous  places  in  America.  It  is  situated  upon  an  elevated 
plain  with  double  ramparts  of  very  high  and  strong  walls  of  stone. 


1  Note  interpolated  by  Peter  Sailly  Palmer:  Mr  Sailly  has  confounded  the 
massacre  of  the  English  garrison  of  Fort  William  Henry  by  the  Indians 
under  Montcalm  in  1757,  with  the  abandonment  of  Fort  George,  twenty 
years  afterwards.  The  latter  was  a  bloodless  affair,  as  the  American  troops 
evacuated  the  fort  before  the  English  had  reached  the  upper  end  of  the  lake. 


PETER    SAILLY  65 

It  was  built  by  the  French,  who  called  it  Fort  Carillon.  We  saw 
the  retrenchments  of  the  French  and  English  armies  in  the 
vicinity.  This  frontier  place  was  always  the  theater  of  war.  The 
English  were  beaten  in  an  attack  upon  the  French  camp  of  General 
Montcalm.  Fort  Independence  is  directly  opposite.  The  Ameri 
cans  in  the  late  war  built  a  bridge  across  the  lake  which  separates 
Mount  Independence  from  Ticonderoga.  We  saw  its  remains. 
We  also  saw  the  ruins  of  several  batteries,  which  the  French 
erected  to  guard  the  entrance  of  the  lake.  During  the  wars  there 
were  flotillas  on  Lake  Champlain  composed  of  vessels,  some  of 
which  carried  twenty-four  guns. 

The  same  day  at  night  we  embarked  on  board  a  vessel  for  Crown 
Point,  a  fort  built  by  the  French  fifteen  miles  below  and  which 
they  called  Fort  Frederic.  Head  winds  obliged  us  to  cast  anchor 
and  we  passed  the  night  on  board.  The  next  day  (the  2ist)  the 
wind  continuing  unfavorable  we  returned  to  Ticonderoga,  which 
gave  me  an  opportunity  to  examine  the  environs  and  the  batteries 
which  \vere  built  upon  the  borders  of  the  lake.  There  are  a  great 
many  redoubts  in  the  neighborhood.  The  French  were  not  parsi 
monious  in  fortifying  this  section.  The  nature  of  the  ground  was 
also  favorable.  We  can  yet  see  the  ruins  of  the  houses  of  the 
French  inhabitants.  These  ruins  are  now  better  than  the  poor 
cabins,  which  the  Americans,  poorer  still,  have  built  here. 

July  22. —  I  arose  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  finding  the 
wind  favorable,  I  called  the  captain  of  the  sloop  and  we  set  sail 
at  three  o'clock.  We  arrived  at  Crown  Point  at  eight  in  the  morn 
ing.  This  fort,  built  by  the  English,  is  fifteen  miles  from  Ticon 
deroga.  It  is  very  strong  from  its  position  and  is  larger  than  Fort 
Ticonderoga,  but  is  not  in  repair.  The  ramparts  are  of  earth  and 
wood.  I  inspected  all  the  vicinity  about  the  fort.  Crown  Point  is 
situated  upon  a  point  of  land  at  the  commencement  of  the  lake  and 
near  to  Fort  St  Frederic,  which  has  fallen  into  ruins.  The  rocks 
are  of  the  color  of  slate  and  well  adapted  to  make  into  lime. 

We  left  Crown  Point  about  noon  of  the  same  day  and  visited 
an  iron  ore  bed  of  very  rich  quality,  which  Mr  Gilliland  has  upon 
Lake  Champlain  about  five  miles  north  of  Crown  Point.  I  took 
with  me  several  pieces  of  the  ore.  There  is  a  small  stream  of  water 
near  the  bed  where  they  can  build  a  furnace.  The  fall  of  water  is 
very  great.  The  wind  being  contrary  we  were  obliged  to  return 
and  we  slept  within  two  miles  of  Crown  Point,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  lake. 

3 


66  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

The  next  day,  the  23d,  the  wind  continuing  to  blow  we  returned 
to  Crown  Point  where  I  revisited  the  fort  and  the  environs.  The 
English  built  three  large  ranges  of  barracks  within  their  fort,  which 
can  conveniently  lodge  two  thousand  men. 

July  24. —  The  wind  being  favorable  we  embarked  and  continued 
our  journey,  visiting  the  lands  of  Mr  Gilliland  on  our  route.  The 
districts  of  Willsborough,  Janesborough  and  Cumberland  Head 
contain  fertile  wheat  lands  of  easy  culture.1 

In  general  I  have  never  in  my  life  seen  anything  which  approaches 
in  beauty  the  borders  of  Lake  Champlain,  although  they  are  unin 
habited.  On  the  east  side  of  the  lake  there  is  a  very  fine  plain, 
ten  leagues  in  width.  The  lake  is  as  many  miles  wide  at  some 
places  and  sometimes  a  great  deal  less.  We  can  see  for  fifteen 
leagues  along  the  length  of  the  lake.  If  this  section  is  ever  inhabi 
ted,  it  will  be  the  finest  in  the  world.  The  best  lands  are  sold 
from  fifteen  to  eighteen  francs  per  acre.  I  would  not  hesitate  to 
purchase  if  I  was  not  afraid  that  in  the  first  war  with  the  English 
the  inhabitants  of  Lake  Champlain  would  be  their  first  victims. 
They  have  forts  upon  the  borders  of  the  lake  at  Point  Au  Fer 
and  again  at  Isle  Aux  Noix.  The  Americans,  on  the  contrary, 
have  not  a  redoubt  in  serviceable  condition,  nor  a  soldier  to  protect 
the  inhabitants  on  their  frontier.  Indeed,  the  savages  or  English 
could  burn  or  ravage  forty  or  fifty  leagues  of  country  before  even 
a  poor  army  could  be  collected  to  oppose  them.  We  arrived  at 
Isle  Aux  Noix  on  the  morning  of  the  25th,  much  fatigued,  after 
passing  a  stormy  and  wet  night. 

Isle  Aux  Noix  is  five  leagues  from  St  Johns,  the  extremity  of 
the  lake.  There  are  four  forts  on  the  island,  although  it  does  not 
contain  more  than  three  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  Three  of  the 
forts  are  not  garrisoned.  The  land  here  is  fertile  and  the  lake  well 
filled  with  fish.  The  fever  attacked  me  the  day  of  my  arrival.  I 
allowed  Mr  Gilliland  to  return  and,  finding  a  good  opportunity  to 
visit  Montreal,  I  decided  to  go  there.  From  the  night  of  the  25th  to 
the  night  of  the  27th  the  fever  did  not  leave  me,  although  it  was 


1  Xote  interpolated  under  this  date  by  Peter  Sailly  Palmer :  Willsborough 
lay  on  both  sides  of  the  Boquet  river  and  Janesborough  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Salmon  river.  Mr  Gilliland's  claim  to  Cumberland  Head  was  based  upon 
the  purchase  of  the  claim  of  Lieutenant  Abram  Lowe  to  2000  acres  of  land. 
At  the  time  of  Mr  Sailly's  visit  Mr  Gilliland  was  urging  this  claim  before 
the  commissioners  of  the  state  land  office;  it  was  rejected.  The  claim  of 
Mr  Gilliland  to  other  large  tracts  of  land  on  Lake  'Champlain  and  to  the 
ore  bed  near  Crown  Point  was  not  recognized  by  the  State. 


PETER    SAILLY  67 

not  very  violent.  I  attribute  this  fever  to  the  great  fatigue  I  have 
undergone  for  the  last  six  weeks.  A  head  wind  delayed  our 
departure  for  Montreal  which  is  thirteen  leagues  from  Isle  Aux 
Noix. 

July  27. — We  left  Isle  Aux  Nois  for  St  Johns  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening  in  a  small  canoe.  We  landed  at  St  Johns  at  half  past 
eleven  o'clock  at  night.  I  was  so  much  annoyed  by  the  fever.  I 
would  have  have  laid  down  had  the  size  of  the  vessel  permitted. 
The  slightest  movement  would  cause  the  miserable  overloaded 
pirogue  to  roll  from  side  to  side.  At  length,  on  landing  I  had  the 
misfortune  to  fall  into  the  water,  shoulders  deep.  This  aggravated 
the  fever,  which  tormented  me  cruelly  all  of  the  night.  St  Johns 
is  a  fort  at  the  entrance  of  Lake  Champlain,  occupied  by  the  Eng 
lish.  Here  navigation  terminates  as  the  river  is  rapid  for  five  or 
six  leagues  below.  The  river  empties  into  the  St  Lawrence  thirteen 
leagues  below  Montreal.  Here  the  mail,  baggage  &c  are  carried 
into  the  government  storehouse  where  they  are  examined  to  prevent 
the  importation  of  foreign  merchandise  into  Canada.  St  Johns  is  a 
place  of  considerable  size.  The  land  is  of  middling  quality. 

July  28. —  We  took  a  small  carriage  with  two  places,  here  called 
a  calash,  and  went  to  La  Prairie,  upon  the  banks  of  the  River  St 
Lawrence,  opposite  Montreal,  and  seven  leagues  from  St  Johns. 
The  country  between  these  places  is  very  flat  and  is  well  inhabited. 
The  wheat,  which  is  sown  throughout  Canada  in  the  spring,  is 
very  fine  but  yet  green.  The  whole  country  is  cultivated.  We  saw 
no  woods.  The  approach  to  Montreal  is  very  fine,  affording  a  view 
of  the  beautiful  valley  through  which  the  St  Lawrence  runs. 
Several  mountains  are  seen  in  the  distance,  upon  whose  summits, 
covered  with  beautiful  groves,  the  eyes  of  the  weary  traveler  can 
repose  with  delight.  At  length,  a  short  distance  from  La  Prairie 
de  la  Madeleine  we  saw  Montreal,  stretching  along  the  bank  of 
the  river,  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain.  Here  again  a  most  beautiful 
picture  is  produced  by  the  borders  of  the  River  St  Lawrence, 
covered  with  houses  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  The  villages,  the 
fine  churches,  the  cultivated  fields,  the  surrounding  country,  the 
most  level  I  have  ever  seen,  the  city  itself  with  its  steeples  and 
towers  scattered  here  and  there,  and  the  pastures  covered  with 
cattle,  present  a  most  charming  coup  d'oell.  The  view  is  mag 
nificent. 

At  La  Prairie  de  la  Madeleine  we  embarked  in  a  bateau  for 
Montreal.  The  river  here  is  at  least  one  league  and  a  half  in 


68  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

width.  We  passed  over  the  rapids.  At  this  point  the  river  ceases 
to  be  navigable  for  the  largest  vessels,  until  we  reach  fifteen  or 
twenty  leagues  higher  up,  when  it  again  assumes  its  magnificent 
size.  We  arrived  at  Montreal  in  the  evening  of  the  28th,  where  we 
remained  the  29th,  and  on  the  3Oth  left  for  Sorel,  with  the  inten 
tion  of  visiting  the  lands  of  Mr  Ross,  upon  the  River  Ya  Maska. 
Wre  arrived  at  Sorel  on  the  3Oth,  at  ten  o'clock  at  night.  It  is 
fifteen  leagues  from  Montreal.  It  is  a  depot  for  artillery.  The 
soldiers  have  barracks  here.  Sorel  is  only  a  village.  It  has  a 
church.  All  the  inhabitants  here  were  originally  French,  as  they 
were  in  all  the  Canadas.  The  village  is  situate  on  the  bank  of  the 
St  Lawrence,  at  the  outlet  of  a  considerable  stream  here  called  the 
Sorel,  higher  up  the  Chambly  river,  still  higher  up  the  St  Johns, 
and  at  length  the  Outlet  of  Lake  Champlain,  which  flows  into  the 
River  St  Lawrence. 

The  country  between  Montreal  and  Sorel  is  very  good,  very  level 
and  more  thickly  inhabited  than  any  other  part  of  Canada  that  I 
have  seen.  After  crossing  the  St  Lawrence  at  Montreal,  we  passed 
the  seignory  of  Longueuil,  where  there  is  a  priest  and  a  church. 
Two  leagues  below  is  Boucherville,  a  small  village  pleasantly 
situated  upon  the  borders  of  the  river.  Two  leagues  below  is 
Varennes,  a  considerable  village,  \vhere  they  have  just  built  a  very 
pretty  church,  more  adorned  than  those  in  the  small  villages  of 
France.  The  altar  attracts  attention  from  the  delicacy  of  the  work 
and  the  variety  of  its  decorations.  Farther  on  is  Verchere,  another 
large  seignory  thickly  settled.  After  these  succeed  Contrecoeur 
and  St  Ours.  All  of  these  large  seignories  are  upon  the  east  bank 
of  the  St  Lawrence  river,  as  far  down  as  Sorel.  These  are  only 
the  largest  villages.  Besides  these  are  the  houses  of  the  farmers 
all  along  the  river,  three  arpents  distant  from  each  other.  This  is 
because  the  seignors  in  Canada  grant  their  lands  in  lots  three 
arpents  in  front  by  thirty  arpents  in  depth,  which  makes  a  farm 
sufficiently  large  and  causes  all  their  lands  to  be  peopled.  It  appears 
as  if  there  was  a  continuous  village  along  the  margin  of  the  river. 
The  opposite  bank  of  the  river  presents  the  same  appearance,  and 
it  is  the  same  as  far  as  Quebec. 

August  2,  Sunday. —  This  day  at  Sorel. 

August  3. —  We  left  the  next  day  in  a  wagon  for  the  river  Ya 
Maska,  four  leagues  distant  from  the  Sorel  river.  We  arrived  at 
Maska  in  good  time,  notwithstanding  the  b^d  roads.  There  we 
took  a  canoe,  in  which  we  ascended  the  river  to  the  seignory  of 


PETER    SAILLY  69 

Mr  Ross,  which  is  yet  uninhabited.  It  is  two  leagues  from  the 
church  at  Maska.  The  borders  of  this  river  present  throughout 
a  charming  appearance ;  a  fine  level  country,  fertile  and  thickly 
peopled  and  a  beautiful  river.  We  reached  the  seignory  of  Mr 
Ross,  which  is  three  leagues  in  width  on  the  river  and  three  leagues 
in  depth.  The  trees  are  very  fine  and  of  good  quality ;  a  great 
many  maples  (a  sugar  tree),  some  oak  and  pine  and  some  elm. 
The  land  is  excellent.  The  only  inconvenience  is  the  great  number 
of  mosquitoes. 

August  4,  Tuesday. —  \Ve  slept  at  Maska  after  having  examined 
a  great  part  of  the  seignory  extending  along  the  little  river  Chibonet, 
upon  which  a  mill  has  been  built,  now  in  ruins.  On  Wednesday  I 
returned  to  Sorel,  and  the  same  day  left  in  a  canoe  and  ascended 
the  river  as  far  as  Chambly,  fourteen  leagues  distant.  This  river, 
which  empties  from  Lake  Champlain,  is  a  little  larger  than  the 
Ya  Maska.  It  waters  a  fine  country,  level,  fertile  and  thickly 
settled  as  far  as  the  borders  of  the  River  St  Lawrence.  The  two 
banks  of  this  river  present  two  lines  of  houses.  We  have  passed 
fourteen  leagues  up  and  have  found,  since  we  left  Sorel,  the 
seignories  of  St  Ours,  St  Denis,  St  Antoine,  St  Charles,  Bel-Oeil 
and  Chambly.  In  each  there  is  a  church  and  a  priest.  The  churches 
are  about  two  and  a  half  leagues  distant  from  each  other. 

We  arrived  at  Chambly  on  Thursday.  There  is  a  large  fort 
here  and  a  garrison.  Here  commence  the  rapids  which  obstruct 
the  navigation  as  far  as  St  Johns.  Some  mills  have  been  built  upon 
the  rapids.  The  same  day  we  left  Chambly  for  St  Johns  in  a  calash. 
We  saw  several  small  dams  which  the  Indians  had  made  in  the 
rapids,  where  the  water  was  shallow,  to  catch  eels,  which  are  to 
be  had  at  this  season.  They  barricade  the  river  and  leave  at  cer 
tain  places  small  holes  where  they  place  willow  nets.  The  eels 
descending  the  rapid  current  are  forced  into  the  nets,  from  whence 
they  can  not  escape.  These  fish  bring  a  good  deal  to  the  Indians, 
who  sell  them. 

August  /,  Friday. — We  arrived  at  St  Johns,  which  I  had  no 
opportunity  to  examine  the  first  time  I  was  here.  The  forts  are 
extensive.  The  English  have  at  this  place,  which  is  the  entrance 
into  the  lake,  several  vessels  of  war  of  18,  20  and  24  guns.  The 
same  day  we  slept  at  Isle  Aux  Xoix. 

August  8th  and  9th  we  remained  here  and  left  on  the  loth.  We 
slept  in  the  woods  in  a  miserable  house  that  had  been  abandoned. 
It  was  about  seven  leagues  from  Isle  Aux  Xoix. 


70  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

August  ii. —  We  continued  our  route  notwithstanding  the  wind 
and  slept  on  an  uninhabited  island. 

August  12. —  We  continued  our  route  notwithstanding  the  wind 
which  was  against  us,  and  this  day  made  about  twenty-five  miles. 
\Ve  stopped  at  the  River  Boquet,  which  we  ascended  about  two 
miles,  in  a  canoe,  to  the  place  where  Mr  Gilliland  had  a  mill.  We 
caught  four  salmon.  The  next  day  we  dined  at  Crown  Point  and 
slept  at  Ticonderoga. 

August  14. —  Left  Ticonderoga  and  reached  Lake  George  before 
noon. 

August  1 6. —  Arrived  at  Albany,  where  I  found  my  horse,  but  in 
a  very  bad  condition. 

August  17. —  This  day  at  Albany. 

August  18. —  Left  Albany  for  New  York  by  water. 

August  20. —  Arrived  at  Poughkeepsie. 

August  21. —  I  saw  upon  the  borders  of  the  North  river,  about 
two  miles  from  Newburgh,  a  mine  of  coal  which  they  have  com 
menced  to  work.  I  took  several  specimens.1 

August  22. —  We  passed  West  Point.  The  wind  having  been 
contrary  from  the  commencement,  we  are  borne  slowly  along  by 
the  stream.* 


1  Referring  to  slate  rock   formation  in   Orange   county,   the  third  annual 
Geological  Report  of  New  York,  page  113   (Doctor  Horton)   says:     In  very 
many  places  in  the  county  this  rock  is  loaded  with  carbon,  so  much  so  as 
to  deceive  the  inexperienced  eye  into  the  belief  that  it  is  coal     .     .     .     Mining 
for  coal  in  a  small  way  has  been  undertaken  in  several  places. 

2  Here  the  journal  terminates  abruptly. 


PETER    SAILLY  71 

III 

Letter  from  Mr  "  St  John  "  to  Zephaniah  Platt  at  Plattsburg, 
introducing  Peter  Sailly. 

New  York  June  14,  1785. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

This  letter  will  be  delivered  to  you  by  Mr  Sailly  a  French 
Gent'm  to  whom  I  can  freely  give  that  name  he  is  Going  to  settle 
in  £  deserves  all  your  Esteem  £  Friendship  &  he  wants  to  Purchase 
Land,  he  has  brought  over  with  him  his  wife  &  a  good  one 
she  is  &  some  children,  do  Pray  let  me  beg  of  Judge  Platt  to 
show  this  Good  Man  every  kindness  &  Good  counsel  he  may  stand 
in  need  of;  you  will  thereby  gain  one  Good  Neighbor  and  do  an 
action  worthy  of  a  good  American. 


NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 


IV 

Letter  from  Madame  Sailly,  Written  at  Albany,  to  hei 
Mother-in-law  in  France.1 

i  December  1/85.  My  dear  Mamar. :  I  have  just  received  your 
letter  which  has  given  me  great  pleasure.  My  husband  can  not 
write  you  as  he  is  absent  for  the  whole  winter.  My  dear  Maman, 
all  our  misfortune  can  not  change  the  love  I  feel  for  all  those  that 
belong  to  my  husband  and  my  hope  is  to  secure  our  reunion.  It 
does  not  require  riches  to  live  in  this  country,  and  we  have  all  that 
is  necessary  for  existence.  An  immense  sea  separates  us,  but  it 
does  not  prevent  our  thinking  of  you  and  always  with  tenderness 
both  for  my  dear  mother-in-law  and  all  that  belongs  to  her.  I 
assure  you  we  talk  often  of  you  with  our  poor  Marianne.  All  our 
children  send  their  respects,  especially  our  little  Julia,  who  you 
know  is  so  sensible.  "We  can  not  talk  before  her  of  Grandmaman 
or  of  Aunt  Sybille  or  of  my  sister  without  she  bursts  into  tears. 
If  you  could  see  how  she  loves  her  father!  She  often  says  to  him, 
"  Papa,  if  we  only  had  Grandma  with  us  she  would  have  coffee 
whenever  she  wished  it."  Here  sugar  does  not  cost  a  high  price 
(that  is  brown  sugar).  Besides  we  use  a  great  deal  of  tea,  which 
is  the  beverage  of  the  country.  The  price  of  coffee  is  also  very 
reasonable  and  of  that  we  use  a  great  deal.  In  conclusion  I  repeat, 
my  dear  Maman,  if  you  can  afford  your  passage  and  that  of  dear 
Sybille,  you  may  be  assured  to  pass  your  life  in  tranquility.  You 
will  have  to  see  the  Indians,  but  they  are  civilized  and  all  are 
Catholics.  Adieu,  my  dear  Maman. 

P.  S. —  Marianne  wishes  to  present  her  respects.  She  is  uneasy 
at  not  having  received  news  of  her  mother. 


1  The  writer  of  this  letter  was  the  first  Madame  Sailly.  The  Marianne 
referred  to  in  it  was  the  writer's  companion,  Marianne  Adelaide  Grellier. 
who  afterward  became  the  second  Madame  Sailly.  Thf  letter  is  in  French, 
unsigned. 


PETER    SAILLY  73 


V 

Extract  from  a  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  to  Judge 
William  Bailey,  Dated  May  26,  1806,  Respecting  the  First  Post 
Road  between  Plattsburg  and  Ogdensburg 

A  Post  road  has  been  established  by  law  beginning  at  Harris- 
burgh,  through  \Yilliamstown,  Ogdensburgh,  Lisbon,  Stockholm 
and  Chateaugay  to  Pittsburgh.  As  the  contract  to  carry  the  mail 
will  be  closed  in  the  course  of  this  summer  (if  proposals  are 
made)  I  thought  it  as  well  to  give  you  time  enough  to  consult  with 
the  inhabitants  about  the  proper  places  for  Post  Offices  and  per 
sons  to  be  appointed  Deputy  Postmasters.  It  will  be  best  however 
to  send  without  much  delay  the  names  of  those  persons  and  places 
to  the  Postmaster  General :  these  to  be  recommended  by  a  number 
of  reputable  inhabitants.  If  you  think  a  letter  from  me  may  be  of 
any  service  I  will  cheerfully  join  it  to  the  nomination,  with  this 
proviso,  that  among  the  subscribers  of  the  said  nominations,  there 
will  be  from  every  town  where  a  Post  Office  is  to  be  established, 
some  respectable  republicans ;  in  order  that  it  may  not  be  a  party 
business,  but  that  the  petition  or  letter  to  the  Postmaster  General 
may  express  the  wishes  of  the  community  generally.  For  the 
accomplishment  of  that  object  (if  my  name  is  to  be  made  use  of) 
I  must  rely  on  your  candor,  and  I  do  appoint  you  the  keeper  of 
my  political  reputation  in  that  respect,  believing  that  it  will  be 
more  tenderly  used  than  it  has  been  by  a  few  demo-aristocrats  here, 
who  by  insidious  practices  have  raised  a  sort  of  hue  and  cry  against 
me  in  th:s  County. 

You  will  observe  that  there  are  but  few  places  mentioned  in  the 
law  establishing  your  postroad.  This  I  have  thought  best  to  do 
as  the  inhabitants  are  left  at  liberty  to  direct  the  road,  from  either 
of  those  specified  points,  where  they'l  think  it  more  generally  useful, 
by  recommending  Post  Offices  in  towns  and  places  between  those 
points,  paying  due  regard  however  to  as  strait  a  course  as  possible. 


NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 


VI 

From  a  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  after  the  Election  of 
1806  Concerning  Political  Attacks  Made  upon  Him  (names  of 
addressee  and  two  other  persons 'mentioned  elided  by  Peter  S. 
Palmer  in  copying) 

I  have  been  an  unfortunate  prophet,  because  I  have  been  a  true 
one.  Mr  N.  Z.  Platt,  a  federalist  is  elected  for  the  Assembly  by 

a  majority  of  upwards  of  140  votes My  reputation  as  a 

republican  has  been  slandered  by  Messrs and 

throughout  the  county.  A  sort  of  hue  and  cry  has  been  raised 
against  me.  They  said  I  suffered  myself  to  be  a  candidate  for 
Congress  in  order  to  defeat  the  election  of  Judge  Thompson.  They 
represented  me  as  a  wolf  in  a  flock  of  sheep.  My  letter  however 
expressive  of  my  disapprobation  of  my  nomination,  and  of  my 
assent  to  the  nomination  of  the  County  convention  of  Saratoga, 
and  sent  by  express  at  my  request  through  the  Counties  of  Essex 
and  Clinton,  which  arrived  in  proper  time,  gave  them  the  lie. 
Another  letter,  to  the  same  effect,  published  in  due  time  in  the 
Waterford  Gazette,  shields  me  sufficiently  in  that  respect  from  the 
slanderous  attacks  of  wicked  and  designing  men.  Judge  Thomp 
son  has  a  majority  in  Clinton  and  Essex. 

I  have  heard  that  since  the  election  those  two  gentlemen  speak 
of  a  reconciliation.  'What  can  be  the  terms?  Do  they  think  I 
shall  be  so  neglectful  of  my  reputation  as  to  leave  the  charges  they 
have  themselves  wickedly  uttered,  uncontradicted  ?  Mr  Delord  has 

been  involved  in  this  vortex  of  defamation  and  abuse says 

Frenchmen  must  not  any  more  be  trusted  by  the  people.  Ungrate 
ful  man ! 


I ETER    SAILLV 


75 


VII 

From  a  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  to  Judge  William 
Bailey  after  the  Former's  Return  from  Service  as  Congressman 

It  is  not  possible  within  the  limits  of  a  letter  to  explain  away 
the  insidious  attacks  of  J.  Randolph  on  the  administration,  and  the 
misrepresentations  respecting  the  transactions  in  Congress  as 
stated  in  the  federal  papers.  I  shall  always  be  ready  not  only  to 
explain  verbally,  but  to  prove  to  any  candid  man  that  the  views 
of  the  government  were  pure;  that  the  foreign  business  was  con 
ducted  with  a  spirit  worthy  of  the  American  nation,  and  not,  as 
has  been  insinuated  with  servility,  nor  under  the  influence  of  fear, 
and  I  hope  time  will  prove  that  the  measures  adopted  by  Congress 
this  last  session  were  not  injudicious. 

The  neglect  of  our  navy  and  of  our  ports  is  wholly  to  be 
attributed  to  the  southern  and  western  members.  They  rose,  in 
mass,  against  those  objects.  The  story  of  the  two  millions  of  dol 
lars  said  to  be  intended  for  France  is  a  false  one,  and  indeed,  on 
the  most  indifferent  subjects,  as  related  in  the  adverse  party  papers, 
there  are  at  least  two  lies  for  every  truth. 

I  send  you  the  President's  message  respecting  the  deeds  of  the 
British  commanders  off  New  York.  They  are  gone.  Mr  Pinkney, 
of  Virginia,  has  been  appointed  envoy  extraordinary  to  the  Court 
of  Great  Britain,  to  join  Mr  Monroe  in  the  negotiation  with  that 
power.  On  the  passage  of  the  partial  nonimportation  act  every 
federalist  in  Congress  voted  in  the  negative,  except  Mr  Quincy 
Adams  of  the  Senate. 


/6  NEW  YORK  STATE  LIBRARY 


vnr 

Frcm  a  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  to  a  Leading 
Politician  in  the  Tompkins  Campaign  of  1807  under  Date  of 
April  4,  1807  (the  name  of  the  addressee  not  being  given  in  the 
copy  left  by  Peter  S.  Palmer) 

Mr  Lynde  seems  to  think  that  the  republican  ticket  for  Senator 
and  for  the  Assembly  in  Essex.  (Air  Pond  the  candidate  for  the 
Assembly),  will  prevail,  but  he  has  doubts  respecting  the  Governor: 
We  ought  to  help  them  as  much  as  we  can,  and  that  very  soon, 
before  men  have  committed  themselves. 

I  think  the  prejudices  against  Elisha  Arnold  are  subsiding,  and 
I  am  convinced  that  if  we  do  our  duty,  he  will  be  elected.  But 
the  republican  ticket  will  not  succeed  in  our  county  without  exer 
tions,  and  you  well  know  that  those  exertions  must  be  made  by 
ourselves.  We  have  lost  already  precious  time,  which  I  regret 
exceedingly.  It  is  full  time  to  awake  and  to  act.  I  hope  the  prin 
cipal  men  in  the  republican  party  will  unite  cordially  in  this  com 
mon  danger  and  endeavor  to  spirit  up  the  supine  and  careless. 
To  effect  this  no  time  can  be  spared.  I  really  wish  we  might  con 
fer  seriously  on  that  business  and  agree  upon  a  systematic  plan 
to  carry  us  out  with  honor,  and  to  some  advantage  to  the  cause. 


PETER    SAILLV  77 

IX 

From  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  July  27,  1812 

On  the  26,  27  and  28  ultimo  a  considerably  quantity  of  hardware 
and  drygoods,  perhaps  to  the  amount  of  seventy  thousand  dollars, 
was  put  within  my  reach  by  merchants  of  New  York,  who  had 
imported  that  merchandise  last  year  from  England  into  Canada. 
I  have  taken  possession  of  it  and  sent  the  drygoods,  at  the  request 
of  the  owner  to  New  York,  under  charge  of  an  inspector  of  this 
district,  to  be  deposited  in  the  public  storehouses  at  that  place.  I 
have  also,  at  the  request  of  the  owners,  requested  the  District 
Attorney  to  libel  that  merchandise,  as  a  claim  will  be  lodged  with 
the  judge  for  the  purpose  of  regaining  its  possession  by  an  order 
of  the  court,  according  to  law.  I  have  stored  the  hardware  at 
Whitehall,  within  this  district,  the  owners  being  in  expectation  that 
a  law  would  be  passed  for  their  relief,  and  therefore  did  not  claim 
to  have  the  property  libeled  immediately. 

A  quantity  of  merchandise,  probably  to  the  amount  of  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  belonging  to  American  citizens  was 
intended  to  be  introduced  in  the  same  manner,  and  several  vessels 
were  already  loaded  at  St  Johns,  when  a  limited  embargo,  laid  by 
the  government  of  Lower  Canada  on  ships  and  vessels,  goods, 
wares  and  merchandise  and  money,  prevented  their  departure. 

The  British  brig  of  war  the  Prince  Edward,  is  repairing  at  St 
Johns.  We  have  no  forces  on  this  lake,  nor  a  battery.  The  gun 
boats  are  out  of  repair.  I  am  informed  by  a  friend  at  Washington 
that  the  invasion  of  Canada  is  not  contemplated  to  take  place  very 
soon.  We  must  therefore  be  here  on  the  defensive.  But  the 
British  have  begun  hostilities  by  taking  our  fort  at  Michillmackinac. 
They  may  continue  where  there  is  a  prospect  of  success.  I  think 
the  regular  troops  ought  to  be  near  the  frontiers,  instead  of  being 
placed  at  Albany.  Our  inhabitants  are  alarmed  and  are  moving  off. 
There  is  not  a  single  stand  of  arms  in  Vermont,  nor  a  single  man 
ordered  to  the  protection  of  our  frontier. 


78  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 


X 

From  a  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  to  Quartermaster 
General,  June  n,  1813 

Since  the  loss  of  two  of  our  sloops  of  war  (the  Growler  and 
the  Eagle)  there  has  been  nothing  new  of  importance  on  this  lake. 
Six,  of  the  seven  men  who  were  wounded  on  board  the  sloops, 
have  been  returned  on  parole.  The  other  man,  severely  wounded, 
could  not  be  removed  and  remains  at  Isle  Aux  Noix.  One  of  our 
men  only  was  killed,  and  only  three  British  soldiers  wounded.1 

A  British  flag  of  truce  is  said  to  have  gone  to  Burlington  by 
water;  about  ten  soldiers  and  an  officer.  They  had  reached 
Cumberland  Head  before  they  were  discovered.  It  seems  they 
came  so  far  in  the  night.  The  people  of  Champlain  and  Chazy 
knew  nothing  of  it.  The  British  have  therefore  ascertained  the 
fact  that  there  is  not  a  picket  guard,  nor  a  single  watch  boat  on 
the  lake,  to  give  notice  of  their  arrival,  nor  is  there  a  single  gun 
properly  placed  to  give  the  alarm  in  case  of  invasion.  Every  part 
of  the  lake  may  be  sacked  at  the  pleasure  of  the  enemy,  without, 
under  the  present  state  of  things,  the  possibility  of  previous  notice. 
If  this  is  warlike,  or  military  like  or  general  like  conduct,  I  know 
nothing  about  it,  but  I  am  apt  to  think  it  a  highly  censurable 
neglect. 

Many  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  village  have  packed  up  their 
effects  and  keep  horses  ready  to  depart  on  the  first  sight  of  an 
enemy.  You  will  understand  that  the  British  have  now  a  decided 
superiority  on  this  lake,  and  the  only  sloop  remaining  has  gone 
into  a  bay  south  of  Burlington  to  repair  a  leak,  Lieutenant  Mac- 
donough  not  thinking  himself  safe  in  this  harbor.  Col.  Clark  keeps 
all  at  Burlington.  Thus  Plattsburgh,  its  arsenal,  its  unarmed  block 
house,  its  public  stores  are  all  at  the  mercy  of  the  enemy.  It  is 
hardly  worth  the  while  to  mention  its  inhabitants.  It  would  seem 


1 A  note  to  this  letter  made  by  Peter  S.  Palmer  is  as  follows :  These 
vessels  were  captured  on  the  third  of  June.  During  the  action  the  Growler 
had  one  killed  and  eight  wounded  and  the  Eagle  eleven  wounded,  including 
the  pilot,  Mr  Graves.  Only  those  severely  wounded  were  returned  on  parole 
to  Burlington,  from  which 'place  the  report  of  the  engagement  was  first 
brought  to  Plattsburg;  the  others  were  retained  as  prisoners  of  war. 
Information  subsequently  received  proved  the  loss  on  the  part  of  the  British 
to  have  been  greater  than  here  stated. 


PETER    SAILLY  79 

that  since  the  departure  of  the  troops  for  Sackett's  Harbor,  they 
have  not  been  thought  worthy  of  protection. 

Another  hardship  has  occurred  to  the  inhabitants  on  the  west 
side  of  the  lake.  Col.  Clark  and  the  Commissioners  appointed  to 
settle  the  accounts  of  the  sleighmen,  exact  that  our  people  should 
go  over  the  lake  to  settle  their  accounts.  There  are  about  200  men 
interested  in  this  County.  Supposing  that  they  could  transport 
themselves  to  Burlington  and  attend  the  Commission  and  return 
for  $6  each,  it  would  cost  $1200  and  six  or  eight  days  lost,  at  this 
precious  time  of  the  year  for  farmers.  Would  it  not  have  been 
more  reasonable  that  these  three  Commissioners,  who  are  under 
pay,  should  come  on  this  side  for  about  a  week.  Truly  these  and 
almost  all  things  are  managed  in  a  most  absurd  and  questionable 
manner. 


8O  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 


XI 

From  a  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  under  Date  of  August  4,  1813 

The  enclosed  newspapers,  under  the  Pittsburgh  head,  will  give 
you  pretty  correct  information  of  the  disagreeable  visit  of  the 
British  at  this  place.  Their  squadron,  on  the  waters  of  Lake 
Champlain,  composed  of  two  sloops  of  war,  which  they  took  from 
us  in  June  last,  of  three  gunboats  and  two  or  three  row  gallies 
and  thirty-four  bateaux,  landed  at  this  village  about  eight  hundred 
men,  being  the  whole  of  their  land  forces,  and,  without  firing  a 
gun,  took  possession  of  the  place,  burned  the  arsenal,  a  block  house 
and  the  cantonement  or  camp  where  the  brigade,  commanded  by 
the  late  Col.  Pike  was  stationed  last  fall  and  winter,  and  which 
had  cost  the  government  about  thirty  thousand  dollars,  and  three 
storehouses,  two  of  which  were  my  own  and  had  been  let  to  the 
government.  In  one  of  my  stores  were  the  goods  claimed  by  Mi- 
John  Frothingham  of  Boston,  an  American  merchant  removed 
from  Montreal  since  the  declaration  of  war,  to  which  he  was  enti 
tled  on  paying  duties,  under  the  law  passed  the  2/th  of  February 
last.  The  British  commander  took  these  goods  on  board  his  fleet. 
I  have  lost  some  rigging,  two  sets  of  Colors,  an  anchor  and  some 
other  trifling  articles  of  public  property.  My  own  private  loss  of 
property,  plundered  within  my  house,  exceeds  one  thousand  dollars. 

The  reason  why  the  property  in  my  house,  public  and  private, 
was  not  removed,  is  that  I  could  not  persuade  myself  that  the 
American  force,  stationed  at  Burlington,  of  4000  effective  men, 
within  twenty  miles  of  this  place,  could  be  suffered  to  remain  idle 
spectators  of  the  destruction  of  the  public  property,  and  of  this 
village,  by  comparatively  a  very  small  British  force.  Messengers 
were  repeatedly  sent  to  General  Hampton,  with  a  request  that  one 
regiment  might  be  sent  here,  but  to  no  effect.  When  all  hope  of 
succor  had  fled,  it  \vas  too  late  to  remove  all,  though  the  greatest 
part  was  secured.  It  seems  that  the  policy  acted  upon  in  this 
quarter  is  that  the  people  must  defend  themselves,  or,  if  not  able 
to  do  it  effectually,  must  submit  to  the  enemy.  Such  policy, 
whether  correct  or  not,  is  very  unpopular  here  and  gives  general 
dissatisfaction  to  the  best  friends  of  the  Administration.  It  is  a 
fact,  that  on  an  extent  of  115  miles,  from  the  Canada  line  to  the 
south  end  of  Lake  Champlain,  on  the  west  side  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  there  is  not  a  military  post,  nor  a  soldier  to  be  setn. 


PETER    SAILLY  8l 

XII 

From  a  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  December  21,  1813 

It  may  be  expected  that  the  British  will  make  a  great  effort  this 
winter  to  obtain  a  decided  ascendency  on  this  lake  next  spring. 
Their  force  this  fall  was  composed  of  the  two  sloops  they  took 
from  us  in  June  last,  and  six  row  gallies,  two  of  which  are  very 
stout  and  carry  each  two  guns,  one  32  and  one  24  pounder.  This 
force  was  deemed  by  many  almost  equal  to  that  under  Captain 
Macdonough.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  ours  did  not  chuse  to  provoke 
the  British  flotilla  to  combat. 

It  is  confidently  reported  and  believed  that  our  enemy  is  now 
building  a  24  gun  ship.  Vessels  of  that  force  may  navigate  on 
this  lake,  provided  they  are  built  broad  and  flat.  It  will  be  recol 
lected  that,  during  the  revolutionary  war,  General  Carlton  was  on 
this  lake,  on  board  the  Royal  George,  a  frigate  of  thirty  guns. 
Unless  therefore  a  great  increase  of  our  naval  force  on  this  lake 
takes  place  this  winter,  the  British  will  blow  us  all  out  of  the 
water  in  April  next.  Permit  me  to  give  it  as  my  opinion  that 
two  20  gun  ships,  and  twenty  large  gallies,  rowed  with  from  forty 
to  sixty  oars  .each,  mounting  heavy  long  guns,  would  pretty  cer 
tainly  maintain  our  ascendency  and  protect  our  shores  and  public 
stores.  In  respect  to  offensive  operations,  it  must  depend  on  the 
skill,  spirit  and  enterprise  of  the  commander. 

The  government  might  possibly  have  a  view  to  make  an  attack 
on  Isle  Aux  Noix  this  winter,  and,  under  an  expectation  of  its 
success,  neglect  to  increase  our  floating  force ;  But  it  is  not  safe 
I  think  to  rest  on  this.  In  the  first  place  Isle  Aux  Xoix  is  very 
strongly  fortified  and  of  difficult  access,  and  an  expedition  against 
that  place  might  fail.  But,  if  even  successful,  the  row  gallies,  if 
made  sufficiently  flat  at  bottom,  would  answer  an  excellent  pur 
pose  in  going  down  the  river  Sorel  and  St  Lawrence.  They  might, 
in  the  spring  be  easily  floated  down  the  rapids  of  St  Johns  and 
Chambly. 


82  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 


XIII 

Letter  from  Major  J.  Ritter,  a  British  Officer,  to  Henry 
Delord,  Referring  to  Private  Property  Destroyed  at  the  Time 
of  the  Murray  Raid 

Odelltown,   [sic]   if  March  1814. 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  of  a  flag  of  truce  to  send  you 
safe  and  sound  the  bale  of  carpet  I  promised  to  buy.  I  have 
obtained  his  Excellency's  and  the  custom  house  permission  for 
doing  so,  and  have  paid  for  the  article,  as  you  will  find  per  bill. 
As  our  troops  have  destroyed  your  carpets,  the  Governor  thought 
it  but  little  satisfaction  to  allow  the  article  to  go  out.  But  as  I 
have  no  funds  to  make  good  losses  sustained  by  inhabitants,  I  can 
only  take  care  that  never  men  under 'my  immediate  command,  should 
be  guilty  of  such  outrages  to  distress  innocent  persons.  For  your 
kind  and  hospitable  treatment  during  my  stay  at  your  house,  I 
tender  you  my  best  acknowledgments,  and  with  best  respects  to 
Madam  Delord  and  the  inmates  of  your  house,  I  am  dear  Sir, 

Yours  with  esteem 
J.  RITTER, 

Major  of  the  6th  Lt.  Infy. 


PETER    SAILLY  83 


XIV 

From  a  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  to  the  Superintendent 
General  of  Public  Supplies,  Dated  August  4,  1814 

Much  clothing  and  military  stores  have  been  sent  lately  to  White 
hall  from  this  place,  and  the  provisions  are  to  be  removed  from 
this  village,  within  the  line  of  defense  which  General  Izard  has 
been  forming  a  little  south  of  it.  There  exists  a  well  founded 
apprehension  that  if  eleven  regiments  of  the  army  of  Wellington 
have  arrived  in  Quebec,  as  is  announced  in  the  Canadian  news 
papers,  an  attack  upon  this  place  and  army  may  soon  be  expected. 
No  approach  however  on  the  part  of  the  enemy  has  yet  been  made. 
Our  army  is  at  Chazy  and  Champlain,  about  4000  strong,  and 
including  the  detachments  left  here  and  at  Cumberland  Head  will 
form  a  body  of  about  5000  effectives.  I  think  we  ought  to  have  six 
thousand  militia  on  this  frontier.  Who  will  have  the  ascendency 
on  the  waters  of  Lake  Champlain  is  somewhat  doubtful.  As  many 
troops  as  the  British  want  in  Upper  Canada  have  been  sent  there 
since  the  loth  of  July  and  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  eleven 
regiments.  Forgive  this  digression.  It  is  well  meant. 


84  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 


XV 

From  a  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  to  Major  Bleecker, 
Deputy  Quartermaster  General,  the  Date  of  Which  Has  Not 
Been  Preserved  but  Which  Was  Undoubtedly  Written  a  Few 
Days  after  the  Battle  on  the  nth  September,  1814 

On  the  6th  instant,  the  day  the  British  army  made  its  appearance 
at  Plattsburgh,  a  large  quantity  of  provision  was,  on  the  emergency 
of  the  occasion,  by  military  orders  and  means,  removed  from  Mr 
Levi  Platt's  barn,  used  at  that  time  as  a  storehouse,  and  placed, 
as  I  am  informed,  within  and  about  every  fort  and  redoubt,  and 
at  other  places  unknown  to  me.  And  I  am  further  informed  that 
some  barrels  of  it  were  .used,  as  precautionary  means  of  defense 
against  fire  or  otherwise,  within  the  forts  and  covered  with  sand. 
Provision  thus  placed  is  certainly  not  within  my  control,  nor  do  I 
consider  it  under  my  care.  It  was  taken  from  me  either  by  order 
of  the  Commanding  General  or  Dep.  Qr.-M.  General  and  removed 
where  they  thought  proper,  without  my  knowledge.  I  had  there 
fore,  nothing  to  do,  I  conceive,  but  to  wait  until  the  authority  that 
took  it  from  me,  should,  as  soon  as  practicable,  return  it  into  the 
public  stores,  where  it  would  be  once  more  under  my  care  and 
responsibility.  This  not  having  been  done  and  having  been  told 
only  this  day  that  you  disclaim  taking  any  care  or  charge  of  that 
scattered  public  property,  and  that  it  remains  in  very  insecure 
places,  and  that  much  of  it  is  already  purloined  or  perishing,  I 
have  taken  the  liberty  thus  to  communicate  my  ideas  to  you  on 
that  subject,  in  hopes  that  some  means  of  obtaining  that  property 
and  of  transporting  it  to  its  proper  place  may  be  devised :  advising 
you  in  the  meanwhile  that  I  do  not  possess  the  means  of  trans 
portation,  for  which  I  have  been  accustomed  to  depend  on  the 
Qr.-M.  Genl.  Department.  Anything  that  my  agents  and  myself 
can  do  to  prevent  further  injury  shall  be  done  cheerfully  in  aiding 
the  removal,  but  give  me  liberty  to  repeat  that  I  do  not  hold  myself 
answerable  for  it,  after  it  has  been  taken  from,  and  is  yet  out  of 
my  custody. 


PETER    SAILLY 


XVI 

From  a  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  to  Colonel  Jenkins, 
the  Quartermaster  General,  in  Regard  to  Supplies,  a  Few  Days 
Later  than  the  Previous  Letter  to  the  Deputy,  the  Date  of  This 
Letter  also  Not  Having  Been  Preserved 

I  have  been  honored  with  your  letter  of  the  I5th  instant  in  rela 
tion  to  the  provisions  that  had  been  dispersed  by  military  proceed 
ings  at  the  tii*"»  that  the  British  made  their  appearance  at  this 
place.  I  communicated  my  ideas  on  the  subject,  in  writing,  to 
Major  Bleeker,  and  am  happy  to  find  they  correspond  with  your 
own.  Maj.  Bleeker,  at  once,  directed  the  wagon  master  to  pro 
cure  teams  and,  with  the  help  and  attendance  of  one  of  my  agents, 
gathered  together  the  said  provision  and  returned  it  into  the  pub 
lic  stores.  Some  of  it  is  in  very  bad  order  and  much  of  it  is  lost. 
We  are  now  employed  in  inspecting  and  repacking  flour,  a  large 
portion  of  which  is  damaged. 


86  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 


XVII 

From  a  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  to  General  Alexander 
Macomb,  October  20,  1814 

I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  of  the  state  of  provision  in  the 
public  stores  at  this  place,  which  is  as  follows :  About  100,000 
rations  of  pork  and  about  116,000  rations  of  beef,  in  all  216  rations 
of  meat,  which  will  last  72  days  if  issued  at  the  rate  of  3000  rations 
per  day.  The  flour  will  about  hold  out  with  the  meat.  The  supply 
of  whisky  will  not  last  more  than  35  days. 

Give  me  leave  to  suggest  the  propriety  of  calling  on  the  Dep. 
Qr.-Master  General,  instead  of  calling  on  the  contractor  for  addi 
tional  supplies  of  meat  and  flour,  for  the  following  reasons.  If 
you  call  on  the  contractor,  he  will  procure  the  provisions  by  pur 
chasing  such  as  will  afford  him  a  profit,  and  the  old  deposit  will 
remain  on  hand  and  ultimately  become  unfit  for  use.  On  the  con 
trary  in  directing  the  Dep.  Qr.-Master  to  procure  the  provision 
wanted,  he  will  or  ought  to  call  on  the  store  keeper,  who  will  inform 
him  where  he  can  get  them.  There  is  in  deposit  at  Whitehall  a  large 
quantity  of  beef  and  flour,  the  property  of  the  United  States.  If 
pork  is  wanted,  the  contractor  must  furnish  it,  as  there  is  scarcely 
^nv  left  in  deposit,  except  at  this  place. 


TETER    SAILLY  8/ 


XVIII 

From  a  Letter  Written  by  Peter  Sailly  to  General  Alexander 
Macomb,  October  25,  1814 

As  it  is  impossible  to  put  the  laws  of  the  United  States  in  force, 
principally  near  the  frontier  with  the  means  under  the  direction 
and  control  of  the  Collector,  I  wrote  lately  to  Capt.  Smith,  com 
manding  the  rifle  corps  at  Chazy,  that  if  he  thought  himself  author 
ised,  I  would  like  it  as  a  favor,  if  he  would  render  such  assistance 
as  the  officers  of  the  customs  would,  in  particular  cases,  require. 
That  letter  was  put  in  the  hands  of  Samuel  Hicks,  Esq.,  who  is 
himself  a  custom  house  officer,  whose  letter  on  that  subject  I 
inclose. 

Should  you  think  proper  to  write  to  Capt.  Smith  and  to  request 
that  he  should  direct  the  officers  of  detachments  and  commandants 
of  pickets,  wherever  stationed,  to  give  the  officers  of  the  customs 
all  the  reasonable  assistance  they  might  want  to  prevent  the  passing 
of  cattle  and  provision  into  Canada,  as  well  as  detect  the  unlawful 
introduction  of  British  merchandise,  I  would  not  then  despair  of 
rendering  that  unlawful  traffic  both  difficult  and  hurtful  to  the 
speculators.  I  would  ask  leave  to  suggest  the  propriety  of  placing 
a  small  guard  of  about  six  men  at  the  lower  village  on  the  lake 
shore.  Judge  Hicks  and  Doctor  Carver,  both  men  of  firmness  and 
prudence  and  well  acquainted  with  their  duties,  would  be  princi 
pally  the  officers  who  would  apply  for  assistance. 

Permit  me  to  embrace  this  opportunity  to  congratulate  you  on 
your  late  exaltation  of  rank  in  the  army  of  the  United  States. 
This  puts  me  in  mind  that  the  last  time  I  had  the  pleasure  to  be  in 
your  company  at  your  own  quarters,  I  represented  to  you  the 
destruction  of  fences  by  the  dragoons  and  militia  and  thought  an 
appraisement  ought  to  be  made  and  compensation  awarded.  You 
observed  something  like  this,  "  let  me  be  appointed  major  general 
and  then  I  will  give  the  necessary  orders."  I  am  happy  to  find 
that  justice  has  been  so  promptly  done  to  you  and  will  so  soon  be 
done  to  me. 


88  NEW   YORK   STATE    LIBRARY 


XIX 

Letter  from  John  Jacob  Astor  to  W.  H.  Crawford,  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury 

New  York,  51  May  1819. 
The  Hon.  William  H.  Crawford, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
SIR: 

I  inclose  a  letter  from  Mr  Sailly,  the  Collector  of  Customs  at 
Plattsburgh.  The  object  of  that  letter  and  my  writing  to  you  is 
related  in  the  letter  itself. 

In  1811,  I  had  made  extensive  arrangements  for  conducting  the 
Indian  trade,  particularly  within  our  own  territory.  When  the  late 
war  of  1812  took  place,  I  had  a  large  property  in  the  Indian 
country,  which  was  traded  for  furs,  and  particularly  at  Michili- 
mackinac,  which  at  the  time  of  the  capture  was,  by  capitulation, 
given  up.  There  being  then  no  direct  mode  of  conveyance  to 
bring  them  there,  they  were,  from  time  to  time,  sent  to  Montreal, 
and  from  there  were  sent  into  the  District  of  Champlain.  Of  this 
circumstance  I  informed  the  Administration,  who  had  no  objection 
to  my  getting  my  property,  and  Mr  Gallatin  gave  me  a  letter  to 
Mr  Sailly,  who  was  very  civil  and  obliging,  though  strict  in  his 
official  duty.  I  supposed  that  he  was  entitled,  in  case  of  condem 
nation  of  any  of  my  furs  (which  I  did  not  expect)  to  a  share,  and 
I  gave  him,  I  think,  five  hundred  dollars,  in  lieu  of  any  claim.  The 
furs,  as  he  says,  were  always  seized  and  sent  here,  where  bond  was 
given  for  the  supposed  value  of  them,  which,  on  application 
(through  the  Court)  to  government  was  given  up. 

As  respects  the  character  of  Mr  Sailly  I  can  say  that  I  have 
been  acquainted  with  him  for  about  thirty  years  and  more,  that  I 
believe  him  to  be  a  gentleman  of  the  most  strict  integrity,  an  excel 
lent  public  officer  and  a  friend  to  the  government. 

I  am  about  to  leave  here  for  France  and  will  be  some  time  in 
Europe.  If  I  can  be  of  use  by  executing  some  orders  for  you  or 
family,  I  will  be  happy  in  doing  it.  A  letter  directed  to  me,  care  of 
Mr  Gallatin,  will  reach  me.  Your  order  for  Teakewood  or  Plants 
I  have  sent  by  two  different  vessels  to  India,  but  neither  of  them 
yet  returned. 

I  am  very  Respectfully 

Sir,  Your  Obt.  Servant, 

JOHN  JACOB  ASTOR. 


PETER    SAILLY  89 

[In  a  note  from  Astor  to  Sailly  inclosing  a  copy  of  this  letter, 
Astor  said:] 

I  have  received  your  letter  which  I  have  this  day  forwarded  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  wrote  him  one  of  which  I 
inclose  a  copy.  I  know  I  have  said  more  than  what  is  necessary 
about  you,  but  as  it  can  do  no  harm,  I  trust  you  will  excuse  me. 


9O  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 

XX 
Letter  from  Chancellor  Walworth  to  Peter  Sailly  Palmer 

Pine  Groye,  Saratoga  Springs, 
Jany.  12,  1866. 
Peter  S.  Palmer,  Esquire, 
Plattsburgh. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  have  enjoyed  the  friendship  and 
confidence  of  your  grandfather,  the  Honorable  Peter  Sailly,  from 
the  time  of  my  first  visit  to  Pittsburgh  in  the  autumn  of  1809, 
until  his  death.  He  was  a  warm,  steady  and  devoted  friend  of  mine 
at  all  times,  and  I  owe  much  of  my  success  in  my  profession,  and 
in  life,  to  his  disinterested  kindness  and  patronage. 

He  was  a  well  educated,  intelligent  and  strong  minded  French 
gentleman,  of  the  old  school ;  and  when  I  'first  knew  him,  he  had 
made  himself  so  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  English  language, 
that  he  wrote  and  spoke  it  about  as  well  and  as  classically  as  a  well 
educated  native  American.  He  was  a  large  well  built  person, 
and  I  think  he  told  me  his  mother  was  of  German  extraction, 
from  the  north  of  France.  He  had  for  a  time,  in  his  early 
life,  belonged  to  a  corps  of  young  gentlemen,  of  respectable 
families,  who  were  in  the  capacity  of  a  bodyguard  to  the  King  of 
France.  I  recollect  very  well  the  description  he  gave  me  of  a  scene 
that  occurred  one  winter,  when  they  went  out  to  hunt  a  wild  boar. 

The  boar  was  in  a  piece  of  woods  and  the  ground  was  covered 
with  a  considerable  body  of  snow.  The  party  surrounded  the  wood 
and  then  advanced  into  it  on  all  sides,  to  ferret  out  the  ferocious 
animal.  Mr  Sailly,  being  by  himself  in  a  part  of  the  woods,  discov 
ered  an  immensely  huge  boar  coming  directly  towards  him,  snorting 
and  upon  the  full  jump  and  very  near  to  him.  He  immediately 
raised  his  gun  and  discharged  it  at  the  head  of  the  infuriated 
animal  and  then  turned  and  ran  from  him  at  his  utmost  speed. 
Presently  the  boar  came  up  behind  him  and,  thrusting  his  nose 
between  his  legs,  raised  him  from  the  ground,  tore  his  pantaloons 
with  his  tusks,  and  pitched  him  some  distance  forward  into  the 
snow,  where  he  lay  quite  still,  while  he  heard  a  great  commotion 
near  him ;  which,  after  a  time,  ceased.  Then,  getting  up,  he  found 
he  had  shot  the  boar  between  the  eyes,  and  that  the  commotion  he 
had  heard,  while  he  lay  concealed  in  the  snow,  was  the  death 
struggle  of  the  expiring  animal. 


PETER    SAILLV  C)t 

Mr  Sailly  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Plattsburgh,  where 
he  was  for  many  years  a  successful  merchant.  He  was  a  man  of 
stern  unbending  integrity  in  all  his  business  relations.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  State  Legislature  of  New  York,  and  when  some  of 
his  political  friends  desired  to  obtain  a  charter  for  a  bank,  he  was 
called  on  and  told  that  each  member  of  the  Legislature,  whether 
he  voted  for  or  against  the  bank,  was  to  have  a  certain  number  of 
shares  of  the  stock  assigned  to  him,  which  would  be  worth  con 
siderable  above  par.  He  enquired  whether  it  was  really  so  that 
each  member  was  to  receive  the  same  number  of  shares  whether 
he  voted  for  or  against  the  bill.  And  being  answered  in  the  affirma 
tive,  he  immediately  said,  then  I  shall  vote  against  the  bill.  He 
did  vote  against  the  bank ;  but  the  charter  was  granted  and  the 
shares  were  in  fact  assigned  to  him.  He  refused  however  to  take 
them,  although  they  were  worth  considerable  above  par ;  consider 
ing  the  arrangement  an  indirect  mode  of  influencing  the  members 
to  vote  for  the  bill,  as  'none  of  them  could  get  the  bonus  unless 
the  charter  was  granted  by  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  members. 

He  was  a  representative  in  Congress  from  the  Plattsburgh  Dis 
trict  from  1805  to  1807,  and  after  the  expiration  of  his  congres 
sional  term  he  was  appointed,  by  President  Jefferson,  Collector 
of  the  Customs  for  the  District  of  Champlain;  which  office 
he  continued  to  hold  until  his  death.  He  was  a  gentleman 
of  unquestionable  courage,  as  well  as  of  uncompromising  integrity. 
AYhen  a  gang  of  five  or  six  smugglers,  armed  with  deadly  weapons, 
broke  into  his  office,  for  the  purpose  of  robbing  it  of  the  smuggled 
goods  stored  there,  he,  single  handed,  attacked  them,  shot  one  of 
them  and  drove  them  all  out  before  him. 

I  may  add  that  he  was  a  liberal  patron  of  all  public  improvements 
and  institutions  of  learning,  and  was,  withal,  a  polished  gentleman, 
a  good  neighbor,  a  faithful  friend ;  and  was  almost  idolized  by  his 
family  and  relatives. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  give  my  humble  testimony  to  the 
many  virtues  of  such  a  man,  and  such  a  friend.  And  I  am  gratified 
to  learn  that  you  intend  to  prepare  a  short  memorial  of  him.  I 
think  he  said  he  was  a  native  of  Lorraine. 

Yours  with  respect, 

REUBEN  H.  WAL WORTH. 


9-2  NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 


XXI 

The  grave  of  Peter   Sailly,   in  Riverside  Cemetery,   Plattsburg, 
is  marked  by  a  plain  marble  slab  with  the  following  inscription: 

In 

Memory  of 
Peter  Sailly,  Esqr., 

who  died 
on  the  :6th  day  of  March 

1826 
aged  LXXII  years. 

A  native  of  Lorraine  in  France 
he  adopted  America  as  his  country 
in  1785. 

The  strength  of  his  intellect,  the 
benevolence  of  his  heart  and  the 
spotless  integrity  of  his  life  made 
him  esteemed  as  a  citizen,  respected 
in  various  public  offices  and 
beloved  as  a  friend  and  relative. 


INDEX 


Astor,  John  Jacob,  friendship  with 
Peter  Sailly,  21;  fur  trade,  40; 
letter  from,  88 

Bailey,   Judge   William,   letters   from 

Peter  Sailly  to,  73,  75 
Belot,  Sieur,  13 
Belot,   Catherine,   13 
Bleecker,    Major,   letter   from   Peter 

Sailly  to,  84 
Bron,  Marianne,   13 

Caillat,  Jean  Claude,  14 

Caillat,  Marie  Louise  Eleonore,  14, 
20 

Champlain,  settlement  at,  25 

Champlain  valley,  civilization  during 
the  Revolution,  18 

Clinton,  DeWitt,  27,  32 

Clinton  county,  set  off  from  Wash 
ington  county,  22 

Crawford,  W.  H.,  letter  from  John 
Jacob  Astor  to,  88 

Davidson,  Dr  Oliver,  22 

Delord,  Henry,  22;  letter  from  Major 

J.  Ritter  to,  82 
Desaunets,    Pierre,    13 
Durand,  Julia  Jane,  20 
Durand,  Marin  Frangois,  20 
Durmoulin,  Cornic,  19 

Essex  county,  set  off  from  Clinton 
county,  22 

Finance,  Charles  de,  n 
Flagg,  Azariah  C.,  35 
Franklin  county,  set  off  from  Clinton 
county,  22 

G'agnon,  Charles  Edouard,  20 
Grellier,    Marianne    Adelaide,   20,    72 
Hampton  raid,  42 
Huguenin,  Anne  Marie,  14 


Jenkins,    Colonel,   letter    from   Peter 
Sailly  to,  85 

Le  Bel,  Marie  Therese,  14 
Legislature  of  1803,  acts  of,  27 
rHommedieu,  Ezra,   19 

Macdonough,  Thomas,  44 

Macomb,     General     Alexander,    44; 

letters    from    Peter    Sailly    to,    86, 

87 

Maire,  see  Quartier  dit  Maire 
Massy,  Ernest  de,  n 
Monroe,    President,    visit    to   Platts- 

burg,  24 

Moore,  Pliny,  25 
Murray  raid,  41 

Xeuilly,  Andre,   13 
Xeuilly,  Marie  Sybille,  13 
Xew  York  State  Bank,  28 


Palmer,  John  Boynton,  n          , 

Palmer,  Katherine,  12  ',    >  •'.  *,  \ 

Palmer,  Judge  Peter  Sailly,  \\,  '30';' 
letter  from  Chancellor  ,'WalVocth 
to,  90  ',,•.'*•••• 

Palmer,  Sidney  Smith,  7 

Platt,  Jonas,  19 

Platt,  Zephaniah,  19;  letter  intro 
ducing  Peter  Sailly  to,  71 

Plattsburg,  settlement,  19;  growth, 
22 

Plattsburg,   battle  of,  43-47 

Plattsburg  Academy,  26 

Plattsburg  Republican  11,  32 

Prevost,  Sir  George,  44 

Quartier  dit  Maire,  Abraham,   14 

Quartier  dit  Maire,  Frederick,    13 

Quartier  dit  Maire,  Jean,    13 

Quartier  dit  Maire,  Jean  Marie,  13, 
14 

Raids,  41 

Ritter,  Major  J.,  letter  to  Henry 
Delord,  82 


[93] 


\ 


\ 


\ 


\ 


94 


NEW    YORK    STATE    LIBRARY 


Sailly,  Charles  Lewis,  20 

Sailly,  Charlotte  Teressa,  20 

Sailly,  Eleonore  Marie,  20 

Sailly,  Emilia,  20 

Sailly,  Frederick  Lewis  Charles,  20 

Sailly,  Julia  J.,  20 

Sailly,  Maria  Louise  Eleonore  Sy- 
bille  Bernadine,  20 

Sailly,  Peter,  source  of  information 
regarding  life,  n;  early  life  in 
France,  13;  wife,  14;  hunting  story, 
14,  90;  first  visit  to  America,  16, 
58;  trip  to  Lake  Champlain,  17, 
64;  trip  to  Canada,  18,  67;  settles 
at  Plattsburg,  18,  20,  71 ;  sails 
with  family  from  France,  19;  buys 
land  at  Cumberland  Head,  20; 
children,  20;  second  wife,  20;  fur 
trade,  21 ;  friendship  with  John 
Jacob  Astor,  21 ;  builds  homestead, 
21 ;  stores,  23;  trade  with  Troy 
and  Albany,  23 ;  in  public  life, 
25-32;  county  judge,  26;  member 
of  Assembly,  27;  friendship  with 
Governor  Tompkins,  28;  member 
of  Congress,  29;  in  government 

•    service,    32-36;    collector    of    cus- 

;.'iomf  for  the  District  of  Cham- 
,  plain, .  32 ;  part  in  local  events  of 
<  W'?r,  of  1812,  36-41 ;  army  con 
tractor,  39;  military  storekeeper, 
39;  experiences  with  raids  and 
smugglers,  41-43;  the  zealous  and 


discriminating  official,  47-51;  char 
acter  and  characteristics,  51-53; 
religion,  52;  passport,  57;  diary  of 
first  visit  to  America,  58-70;  in 
scription  on  gravestone,  92 

letters:  of  introduction  to  Zeph- 
aniah  Platt,  71 ;  to  Judge  William 
Bailey,  73,  75;  on  political  attacks 
made  upon  him,  74;  to  a  leading 
politician  in  the  Tompkins  Cam 
paign  of  1807,  76;  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  77,  80,  81 ;  to 
Quartermaster  General,  78;  to  the 
Superintendent  General  of  Public 
Supplies,  83;  to  Major  Bleecker, 
84 ;  to  Colonel  Jenkins,  85 ;  to  Gen 
eral  Alexander  Macomb,  86,  87 

Sailly,  Mrs  Peter,  14;  death,  20; 
letter  from,  72 

St  John,  Mr,  19;  letter  from,  71 

Smith,  Melancton,   19 

Smugglers,  41 

Spencer,  Ambrose,  27,  35 

Tompkins,  Daniel  D.,  27,  28 
Treadwell,  Thomas,   19 

Walworth,  Chancellor  Reuben  H., 
24,  53;  letter  to  Peter  Sailly 
Palmer,  90 

Warren,  Mrs  Mary  Waite  Sailly,  21 
Wilhoffer,   Marie   Elisabeth,    13 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below, 
or  on  the  date  to  which  renewed.  Renewals  only: 

Tel.  No.  642-3405 

Renewals  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  date  due. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


1H  STACKS 


UPS  it 


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LD21A-20m-3,'73 
(Q8677slO)476-A-31 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


YD   12427 


403298 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


New  York  State  Library 

HISTORY  BULLETINS 

1  Supplementary  list  of  marriage  licenses.       sop.       1898.       50 

2  Colonial  records:  general  entries;  v.  i,  1664-65.       is6p.       1899. 

20C 

3  Annotated  list  of  manuscripts  in  the  New  York  State  Library. 

34p.         1899.         50 

4  Slavery  in  New  York.        ;6p.         1900.         ice 

5  Descriptive  list  of   French   manuscripts  relating  to  America. 

68p.         1902.         150 

6  Calender  of  [N.  Y.  colonial]  council  minutes,  1668-1783.       72op. 

1901.         750 

[7]   Van  Rensselaer-Bowier  manuscripts.       909p.       1908.        $1.25 

[8]    Calendar   of    the  Sir   William    Johnson   manuscripts   in   the 
New  York  State  Library.        683p.         1909.        $i 

9-11    Early  records  of   Albany   and   Rensselaerswyck.      v.   2-4, 
1916-19.        3  v.     $2.40 
Volume  i  was  privately  published  in  1869 


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bequest  of  collections  of  such  letters,  papers  and  documents  as  have  made  possible 
the  preparation  of  this  sketch,  relating  to  all  persons  who  have  had  a  part  in 
the  political,  social,  industrial  or  educational  growth  of  the  State.  Such  gifts  will 
be  sure  of  safe  keeping  and  will  be  permanently  available  for  the  use  of  students. 


